Pennsylvania House Democrats paid almost a quarter million dollars to settle a sexual abuse or harassment complaint against state Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, a Democratic lawmaker from Berks County, by a longtime legislative staffer, Philly.com reports.
Of course there was a non-disclosure agreement. That is not acceptable. If the public is paying for this, it should be public information.
A year after the settlement, Caltagirone was reelected to his 21st term. He’d been in the state House 40 years which is at least 28 years too long and in his case, maybe 40 years too long.
There was a settlement in the 1990s as well. We will never know if he suffered any consequences at all because, unlike Republicans, the Democrats won’t discuss it and the media lets them get away with that.
In all, the document shows that House Democrats paid $600,000 since 2007 to settle four complaints against legislators. Two were sexual harassment and the others were wrongful termination.
There were no payouts to House Republicans.
