A longtime top staff member of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris resigned Wednesday after The Sacramento Bee inquired about a $400,000 harassment and retaliation settlement resulting from his time working for Harris at the California Department of Justice.
Larry Wallace, who served as the director of the Division of Law Enforcement under then-Attorney General Harris, was accused by his former executive assistant in December 2016 of “gender harassment” and other demeaning behavior, including frequently asking her to crawl under his desk to change the paper in his printer.
The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 30, 2016, when Harris was still attorney general but preparing to be sworn in as California’s newly elected Democratic senator. It was settled less than five months later, in May 2017, by Xavier Becerra, who was appointed to replace her as attorney general.
Sen. Kamala Harris said Thursday that she did not know about the allegations of harassment made against one of her longtime staff members, the Sacramento Bee reported.
“I did not,” she said on the steps outside the U.S. Capitol. “Nope.”
Larry Wallace, who was the director of the Division of Law Enforcement under then-Attorney General Harris, was accused by his former executive assistant Danielle Hartley in December 2016 of “gender harassment” and other demeaning behavior.
As Written By The SacBee:
Danielle Hartley became Wallace’s assistant in 2011 and, according to her lawsuit, she began to experience harassment and other demeaning behavior. She said Wallace frequently asked her to crawl under his desk to change the paper and ink in his printer, and when she asked to move the printer so that she would not have to bend over in dresses or skirts, he refused. After she complained to a supervisor, Hartley said, she was subjected to extensive retaliation from the department.
Hartley filed a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, a precursor to a lawsuit, on Sept. 23, 2016, alleging Wallace sexually harassed her. Wallace and his division were named as co-respondents, according to the complaint.