Lawmaker says harassment by colleague was unacceptable
April 22, 2021
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BEND, Ore. (AP) A Republican state lawmaker who says she was subjected to sexual harassment by Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, said he responded inappropriately when she asked him to support a bill.
“I asked for a yes vote,” Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson of Prineville told the Central Oregon Daily News. “He responded with some questions. I responded to his questions. He interjected with, going out for a beer, going out for dinner, dot dot dot. I continued to ignore those and just give the answers to the questions he had asked, and the last text that came through was just unacceptable.”
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GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson, R-Prineville, has gone public with her allegation that she was sexually harassed in texts from Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie.
Iverson said Tuesday that she was the previously anonymous lawmaker who accused Witt of sexual harassment. She said she was speaking out after the bipartisan House Conduct Committee rejected a recommendation that Witt be removed from chairmanship of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Iverson is a member of the committee, and the formal conduct complaint filed against Witt says the incident occurred during a meeting on April 12. Details of what happened have not been fully divulged, but Iverson said Tuesday that Witt had sent her inappropriate texts.
“On behalf of Vancouver City Council, I’m thrilled to have Paul Mochrie take on the critical role of Vancouver’s City Manager at precisely the moment when our city needs someone of his professionalism, talent, and dedication to the community,” said Mayor Kennedy Stewart in a statement.
“Over the past two years, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Paul and have seen how much respect he has amongst our staff team. Paul’s attention to detail and relentless focus on making our city work for everyone will be crucial as we build back from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than before.”
The OU Provostâs Office is assessing salary data to examine faculty pay equity, while one OU professor said sheâs found a consistent pay gap between men and women in the same profession at OU through her own analysis.
Political science professor Alisa Fryar compiled data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System on the 94 R1 research universities. On average, male full professors made $137,060 while female full professors made $114,954 in 2019, according to Fryarâs data. In Fryarâs data, OUâs gender wage gap was 12th largest of the 94 universities.
The gap remained consistent between other titles according to Fryarâs data, including a gap of $9,761 in associate professors, $10,974 in assistant professors, $10,197 in instructors and $3,666 in lecturers.