Staffer who filed whistleblower suit fired after House Republicans elect new leaders
The Kentucky House Republican Leadership has fired a staffer who claims she was punished for reporting sexual harassment complaints against Republican members of the General Assembly.
Daisy Olivo, communications director for House Republicans, was escorted out of the Capitol by security near the end of the workday Friday. Her attorney, Shane Sidebottom, said Olivo was not given a reason for her dismissal.
Olivo has an ongoing whistleblower lawsuit against the Legislative Research Commission.
“I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the lady who filed the sexual harassment complaint and the two employees who did the right thing and reported it are no longer employed by the (Legislative Research Commission),” Sidebottom said.
The decision appears to be one of the first by House Speaker-elect David Osborne’s new leadership team. House Republican chief of staff David Floyd did not respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Olivo’s attorneys fought to make public the deposition of the former legislative staffer who accused former House speaker Jeff Hoover and three other lawmakers of sexual assault. Sidebottom said the deposition included serious allegations of sexual assault that the lawmakers do not want to be revealed.
The former staffer has not been publicly identified by the Herald-Leader because she is an alleged victim of sexual harassment.
Olivo’s firing comes a little more than a year after the initial report that Hoover, R-Jamestown; Rep. Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green; Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland; and Rep. Brian Linder, R-Dry Ridge, had reached a settlement with a staffer over sexual harassment claims.
Shortly after the scandal broke, Olivo claimed she had “basically been put on paid suspension” by House leaders because she had reported the alleged harassment. Sidebottom said Olivo had continued to be shut out by GOP leaders up until her dismissal,
The alleged victim, who has been referred to as Jane Doe in lawsuits, resigned shortly after the settlement was revealed. Brad Metcalf, the former chief clerk of the House, was fired last January. He has also filed a whistleblower lawsuit.