Lawmakers searching for consensus on sexual harassment bills
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana lawmakers agree they want to tighten state policies against sexual harassment.
But they have gotten bogged down on what approach to take and whether to hide some of the harassment allegations and investigation details from the public. Louisiana doesn't currently have a uniform policy against sexual harassment, instead letting government agencies cobble together their own standards.
Three proposals aimed at requiring government-wide anti-harassment training requirements and policies are pending in the Senate. All three measures initially emerged from a Senate committee, only to be sent back Tuesday evening in hopes of reaching consensus on one bill.
One of the largest sticking points involves whether to keep certain details of sexual misconduct investigations and claims confidential. The debate comes after several high-profile state officials have been accused of sexual harassment.