Report clears Sen. Wilson of sexual harassment allegations

WASILLA — Rookie state Sen. David Wilson (R-Wasilla), was found to not have committed any act of sexual harassment in a report released by Alaska State Legislature Human Resource Manager Skiff Lobaugh on Tuesday afternoon.

The investigation began, not with a complaint from the staffer who encountered Sen. Wilson on June 15 in the House, but with accounts from journalists on scene who relayed their testimony in various blog posts.

Those allegations claimed that Wilson put his cell phone underneath the skirt of the staffer in order to “upskirt” her. Wilson denied the claims.

Upon reviewing surveillance footage, Lobaugh found that Wilson was trying to use his phone to record the proceedings going on behind closed doors, and not trying to photograph, or otherwise harass the employee.

Lobaugh wrote that Wilson was standing in front of the Speaker’s Office talking with the staffer on June 15, 2017. The employee moved to stand between Wilson and the door to the Speaker’s Office. Wilson took out his cell phone and lowered it “to a height level with the hemline of the HSE skirt at a distance of one to two feet away from the skirt.”

Lobaugh concluded Wilson did not touch the employee with his phone, and that the phone was angled “towards both the HSE’s skirt and the door of the Speaker’s Office.”

The cell phone was lowered at skirt level for four seconds, when something was said between the two and Wilson left the area.

Lobaugh found that this incident clearly did not meet the standard for ‘quid pro quo’ sexual harassment, so he analyzed it as a possible hostile workplace environment case, but there, too, found no grounds, citing, among other factors that it appeared to be a one-time incident, the phone never reached below the skirt’s hemline, and that Wilson appeared to be positioning the phone in order to record the closed door meeting, and not to photograph the staffer.

Lobaugh did, however, find fault with Wilson for creating an ‘uncomfortable situation’

“What clearly made this specific situation uncomfortable was that HSE was placed in a position between doing what she was directed to do by the legislator who employed her, and simultaneously coping with actions and statements from another legislator that were to the contrary of her assigned duty,” Lobaugh wrote. “While Senator Wilson may have been acting with joking and friendly intentions, his actions and comments still put the HSE in a stressful no-win predicament.”

Democratic Senator Berta Gardner, who is also on the Senate Rules Committee, released the following comment in the wake of the release of the report:

“Such behavior is clearly intrusive, intimidating, and inappropriate to the staffer. It is also grossly unprofessional and unethical behavior from anyone, let alone a sitting member of the Senate,” Gardner wrote. “Coupled with the fact that Senator Wilson slapped a political reporter across the face in the Capitol building a short time before this incident, it demonstrates a disturbing pattern of poor judgement, bullying, and aggressive behavior. Senator Wilson should acknowledge his bad behavior, and apologize immediately to both the reporter and the staffer, taking full responsibility for his actions.”

The Republican-led Senate, of which Wilson is a member, issued the following statement with release of the report:

“The Alaska State Senate will responsibly and transparently investigate all issues that potentially compromise a safe and respectful workplace. The Senate takes very seriously the protection of all legislative employees.

“Further, Senate Leadership has heard House Speaker Bryce Edgmon’s concerns of potential retaliatory actions in this matter. We also take allegations of retaliation very seriously, and are in the process of investigating to determine if additional action is necessary.”