BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana's secretary of state, accused of sexual harassment, pledged to state senators that his agency is reviewing its anti-harassment policies and will consider improvements.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler came under intense questioning from Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, who chairs the committee that oversees his office. Peterson said the agency should revise procedures that have been unchanged since 2013.

Schedler replied that his office will provide recommendations to improve its policies to the senators by week's end. He said he will "remain out of that process" amid a pending sexual harassment lawsuit.

Schedler is accused of harassing a woman who worked in his office and punishing her when she rebuffed advances. Schedler's spokeswoman said Schedler had a consensual sexual relationship with the woman, a claim the woman's lawyer denied.