Patrick Meehan: Congressman fought harassment, then settled own case

Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., who has taken a leading role in fighting sexual harassment in Congress, used thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to settle his own misconduct complaint

A married father of three, Meehan, 62, had long expressed interest in the personal life of the aide, who was decades younger and had regarded the congressman as a father figure, according to three people who worked with the office and four others with whom she discussed her tenure there.

But after the woman became involved in a serious relationship with someone outside the office last year, Meehan professed his romantic desires for her — first in person, and then in a handwritten letter — and he grew hostile when she did not reciprocate, the people familiar with her time in the office said.

Life in the office became untenable, so she initiated the complaint process, started working from home and ultimately left the job. She later reached a confidential agreement with Meehan’s office that included a settlement for an undisclosed amount to be paid from Meehan’s congressional office fund.

On Saturday, John Elizandro, Meehan’s communications director, issued a statement saying that the congressman “denies these allegations” and “has always treated his colleagues, male and female, with the utmost respect and professionalism.”

Elizandro said that Meehan was calling on the former aide to waive the confidentiality agreement in the settlement “to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts.” Elizandro did not respond to follow-up questions about why Meehan had agreed to the settlement and the confidentiality provision if the accusations were false.

Alexis Ronickher, a lawyer for the former aide, called Meehan’s statement “a desperate effort to preserve his career.” She said the congressman had demanded confidentiality in the first place, and was now asking her client to waive it knowing that she would not agree because she “prizes her privacy above all else.”

After this article was published online, AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, said that Meehan was being removed immediately from the House Ethics Committee, which has investigated sexual misconduct claims against other congressmen, and that the panel would investigate the allegations against him. In addition, Ryan told Meehan that he should repay the taxpayer funds, Strong said.

Sexual misconduct accusations against powerful men across a range of industries in recent months have prompted a national conversation about gender dynamics in the workplace, and the inadequacy of support systems for victims. In Congress, several lawmakers have left office or announced their retirements in recent months over sexual harassment claims.

Still, Congress remains a workplace where victims say they have few effective avenues for recourse. Meehan’s case sheds new light on secretive congressional processes for handling such complaints, which advocates say are slanted to favor abusers — allowing them to use the vast resources of the federal government to intimidate, isolate and silence their victims.

As a member of the Ethics Committee, Meehan was tasked with being a part of the solution. The panel has initiated investigations into sexual misconduct claims against at least four congressmen in recent months.

Two have resigned: Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and John Conyers Jr., D-Mich. The other two, Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev., remain in office but have said they will not seek re-election.

Meehan has been pushing for protections for domestic violence victims since his time as a local prosecutor. In Congress, he has sponsored legislation mandating the reporting of sexual violence, and he is a member of a bipartisan congressional task force to end such violence.

This account is based on interviews with 10 people, including friends and former colleagues of the former aide and others who worked around the office. The New York Times is not naming the former aide, who followed the recommended procedures for reporting harassment but came away from the experience feeling traumatized, according to several people with whom she shared her feelings.

Meehan’s family was close to the former aide, according to friends and colleagues, and she was regarded as an integral employee in the office, according to people who worked in or around the office.

They said Meehan seemed to favor her over other employees, so much so that others saw his favoritism as unprofessional. He expressed interest in her personal relationships outside the office, then seemed to become jealous in April when word spread through the office about the aide’s boyfriend.

After Meehan’s professions of attraction and subsequent hostility, the woman filed a complaint with the congressional Office of Compliance over the summer, alleging sexual harassment.

The handling of that complaint — which included an aggressive pushback by representatives from Meehan’s office and congressional lawyers, who suggested she had misinterpreted the congressman’s behavior — demoralized the aide.

It led to her estrangement from her colleagues, and isolation from friends, family and her boyfriend, according to the people in whom she confided. It set her back financially and professionally, as she continued to pay legal costs associated with the complaint even after leaving her job in Meehan’s office and struggling to find a new one. She moved back in with her parents and ultimately decided to start a new life abroad.

Meehan was represented in this process by two officials from his congressional office and two lawyers for the House’s office of employment counsel.

After counseling and mediation sessions mandated by the Office of Compliance, the sides reached an agreement that included a settlement and a strict nondisclosure agreement, according to people familiar with the process.

The exact amount of the settlement could not be determined, partly because Meehan’s office paid it from a congressional office fund that allows such payments to be disguised as salary and reported months after they were made. But people familiar with the payout said it was thousands of dollars.

Several of those interviewed traced the woman’s difficulties in Meehan’s office to 2016, when a senior male member of the office staff professed his romantic attraction to the woman. She reported the advance to Meehan, and the senior employee left his job after reaching an agreement with Meehan, according to a person with direct knowledge of the episode who worked in the office. Not long after, Meehan signaled his own romantic desires to the woman.

The aide’s dealings with the Office of Compliance left her feeling as if the settlement was not worth the emotional distress the process had caused, said the friends and former colleagues. All spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because they were concerned that, if lawyers for Meehan or the House accused the woman of violating the nondisclosure agreement, her settlement could be withdrawn and her career prospects further damaged.

Other women who have endured the complaint process have suffered personal and professional consequences.

“I tried to get another job with another member of Congress, and I was blackballed. Nobody wanted to touch me,” said Marion Brown, who filed the complaint that led to Conyers’ resignation, and who was not speaking about the Meehan case. “And I’m still going through backlash, because he resigned without admitting doing anything wrong.”

Under federal law, accusers must undergo a confidential process in which co-workers who might be able to provide corroborating evidence are excluded. They often must wait about three months before filing an official complaint, yet they must initiate the process no later than 180 days after the offending behavior. Once the process is initiated, accusers must submit to up to 30 days of counseling and complete another 30 days of mediation.

Ronickher, the lawyer for Meehan’s accuser, declined to comment on the specifics of her case. But Ronickher, who has represented multiple congressional aides who have filed sexual harassment complaints with the Office of Compliance, said, “Given the proven dysfunction of the process as we have it now, it’s critical that Congress act on legislation to revise the process so that victims aren’t re-harmed when they pursue their rights.”

Several proposals are pending before Congress to overhaul the harassment reporting process, and some would bar payouts from House members’ accounts.

Meehan’s accuser paid her own lawyers’ fees, and the settlement she reached was not enough to cover her legal and living expenses while she was out of work, according to a person with whom she discussed her finances.

The congressman has been regarded as a target for Democrats because his district, which is considered among the nation’s most gerrymandered, was carried narrowly by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

One of the leading Democratic prospects, state Sen. Daylin Leach, stepped back from his bid in December, after he was accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching.

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Patrick Meehan’s Response to The Times’ Article on His Settlement for Misconduct

The New York Times received the following statement Saturday from the office of Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., in response to reporting that Meehan had used taxpayer funds to settle a case of sexual misconduct with a female staffer in his office.

Congressman Meehan denies these allegations. Throughout his career he has always treated his colleagues, male and female, with the utmost respect and professionalism.

In this case, the employee, represented by counsel, made certain assertions of inappropriate behavior which were investigated.

With respect to resolving any allegation made against the office, Congressman Meehan would only act with advice of House Counsel and consistent with House Ethics Committee guidance. Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately.

At Congressman Meehan’s request, the congressional attorneys handling the case have asked the complainant’s counsel to release all parties from the confidentiality requirements of the agreement to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts. The Congressman is hopeful that they will agree to this request for full transparency.

Rep. Meehan believes there must be real reform to the process for resolving complaints so that those who are truly wronged are given a fair forum to be heard and vindicated, and those accused are provided with an ability to respond to baseless accusations. The public to whom elected officials are answerable must be provided with a true sense of the facts and circumstances involved.

In response to Meehan’s statement, a lawyer representing his former aide, whose name The New York Times is not publishing, released the following statement:

In a desperate effort to preserve his career, Rep. Meehan has now asked my client to waive confidentiality so he can deny well-grounded allegations knowing full well that his former staffer prizes her privacy above all else. Mr. Meehan demanded confidentiality to resolve the matter, presumably so that the public would never know that he entered into a settlement of a serious sexual harassment claim.

Now that it has become public — due to no fault of my client’s — he is flouting his legal obligations and is speaking publicly. We will not allow our client to be victimized twice by this man. If he further violates the confidentiality strictures he insisted upon and he agreed to, we will seek legal recourse on our client’s behalf.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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