A county commissioner in Olympia, Washington has been accused of sexually harassing an underling and pressuring him into courting her — then making him run her errands, purchase her issues and mortgage her cash, in keeping with a lawsuit.
Allyn Hershey is now demanding $750,000 after his relationship with Thurston County Commissioner Emily Clouse ended bitterly.
Clouse, 30, fired Hersey simply half-hour after he reported the connection and alleged sexual harassment to county authorities on July 29, he alleges, in keeping with the Olympian.
Whereas Clouse — a Democrat who was elected in 2023 — was suspended from a few of her duties this previous August, a report from an out of doors investigator employed by the county discovered she probably didn’t sexually harass or retaliate towards her former aide.
The report claims that Clouse employed Hershey on April 24, 2024, and the 2 engaged in a “consensual romantic/sexual relationship” someday between April and June 1. Hershey, nevertheless, disagreed with the conclusion.
“Numerous this was unwelcome, however I felt pressured into doing so as a result of my complete job was to maintain Emily [Clouse] completely happy,” he instructed the outlet.
A part of Hershey’s job, in keeping with the report, concerned driving Clouse round, portray a room in her home and operating her errands, in keeping with the outlet.
In line with the report, the pair kissed for the primary time at a political occasion on March 29, weeks earlier than Hershey obtained a proper job supply from Clouse.
Clouse allegedly continued to ask Hershey to go on dates and keep at her home previous June 1 after the connection had soured, Hershey instructed the outlet.
By late July, Hershey had texted Clouse that he may give up and he or she replied that his quitting was one in every of her largest fears, in keeping with the report.
The 2 had a number of contentious disagreements over the next days, and by July 29, Hershey contacted the county’s Human Assets division over fears Clouse was going to fireplace him in retaliation.
Whereas on the cellphone with HR, Hershey defined their current disagreements and accused Clouse of borrowing $1,500 from him and sending him suggestive pictures.
When requested by HR to share her facet of the occasions, Clouse didn’t disclose her earlier romantic/sexual relationship together with her aide, in keeping with the report.
About half-hour later, Hershey was terminated from his submit. Instantly after, County Supervisor Leonard Hernandez requested him what number of months of paid depart with advantages would it not take for him to not go public along with his accusations, Hershey alleged.
The 2 agreed he would take 9 months’ depart, nevertheless, on July 30, Hernandez introduced the matter to the Board of County Commissioners, who determined to rent an out of doors investigator.
Hershey criticized the report, which discovered Clouse probably acted towards the very best pursuits of the county by hiding her romantic relationship together with her subordinate.
“I really feel like the general public deserves to know the true actuality of this investigation and the issues that they’re leaving out,” Hershey instructed the outlet.
Hershey’s attorneys filed a dangerous new lawsuit on Nov. 27, two months after submitting a lawsuit requesting $750,000 in damages.
In the meantime, Clouse’s lawyer Maia Robbins stated the accusations have been “ridiculous” and maintained Clouse by no means sexually harassed or retaliated towards Hershey.
“It’s a witch hunt to poke into different facets of her non-public life and put them on show in an effort to maintain her silenced,” Robbins stated.
The investigator additionally probed an allegation Clouse made towards Hershey claiming he sexually assaulted her on a minimum of three events – a declare Hershey referred to as utterly false.
“I simply discover it weirdly handy that the week that I meet with HR and the county supervisor to report sexual harassment and retaliation is the week she determined to carry up that I sexually assaulted her in government session,” Hershey instructed the Olympian.
The report doesn’t say whether or not the allegations have been decided to be false, however in courtroom paperwork attorneys for Hershey stated Clouse retracted the criticism in the course of the investigation.
Hershey instructed the newspaper he selected to talk out after studying about “blatant inconsistencies and lies” within the report, and stated the general public deserved to know the reality.
“I don’t suppose that anybody who’s publicly going round mendacity about sexual assault ought to characterize our county in any capability, not to mention any boards or commissions,” Hershey stated.
“I hope the general public appears to be like on the fact of who Emily [Clouse] is as a human being, reasonably than simply her insurance policies, and comes to a decision for themselves on whether or not or not she deserves to be in workplace.”
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