Biden HHS Pick Settled a Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Involving 'Top Staffer' to Then-AG Kamala Harris
Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the country’s presumptive vice president-elect, has missed a golden opportunity to prove she truly believes and stands with women who say they faced harassment in the workplace.
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden announced Monday he had chosen California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Health and Human Services in his administration, if he is indeed sworn in as president next month.
Our health team will be ready to combat our most pressing health challenges: containing the pandemic, tackling inequity, and ensuring every American has access to affordable, quality health care.
They will lead with science, expertise, and integrity.https://t.co/v2qAmJURjE
— Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@Transition46) December 7, 2020
But Becerra is connected to a #MeToo incident — one that involved a former Harris staff member.
The Sacramento Bee reported in 2018 that Becerra, who replaced Harris as the Golden State’s top law enforcement officer after she was elected to the Senate in 2016, had a big role in settling a sexual harassment lawsuit against Larry Wallace, who was the director of the Division of Law Enforcement under AG Harris.
That lawsuit was filed in December 2016 on behalf of Danielle Hartley, an executive assistant to Wallace.
According to the suit, Wallace routinely demanded that Hartley needlessly crawl under his desk to fiddle with a printer.
It alleged that he demeaned her on multiple occasions and was guilty of “gender harassment” for asking her to get down on the ground in the office to maintain a machine he could have easily moved.
The lawsuit was settled by Becerra in May 2017, months after Harris was sworn in as California’s junior senator.
The Bee reported that Hartley was quietly paid $400,000 in the settlement, with the state Department of Justice continuing to deny her allegations.
At the time of the 2018 report, Wallace had moved on from the AG’s office and was working for Harris as a “top staff member,” The Bee reported.
What was a man accused of sexual harassment doing working for Harris, a vocal proponent of the #MeToo movement?
According to The Bee, Harris claimed she didn’t know about it.
“We were unaware of this issue and take accusations of harassment extremely seriously,” Lily Adams, a representative for Harris, told the outlet. “This evening, Mr. Wallace offered his resignation to the senator and she accepted it.”
It seems doubtful that a $400,000 payout was kept that quiet, but let’s give Harris the benefit of a doubt when she says she didn’t know one of her top staffers had been accused of repeatedly asking a woman to crawl under his desk.
That leads us back to Becerra.
Harris seemingly has known about the accusations, the lawsuit and Becerra’s role in settling it for two years now at least.
In the world of #MeToo movement advocates, there is no place for men who are accused of unsavory behavior — or those who enable it.
Harris was ready to crucify then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 over flimsy allegations of teenage sexual misconduct.
Now she had a chance to object to Becerra’s appointment and be a voice for all female accusers. Instead, Harris said in a tweet Monday that he and other Biden nominees “reflect the very best of our nation — we’re in good hands.”
To contain and come back from this pandemic, we’ll need to listen to experts. Our health team brings together some of America’s leading physicians, health experts, and public servants. They reflect the very best of our nation—we’re in good hands.https://t.co/ds0qZD0b75
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 7, 2020
While Becerra hasn’t been found guilty of any wrongdoing whatsoever, the #MeToo movement isn’t, nor has it ever been, about due process.
The movement is about accepting accusations from women at face value.
If Harris truly believed all women, she might have demanded Becerra be withdrawn as a candidate for the HHS post, given his settlement of Hartley’s lawsuit.
Of course, she also might have turned down the opportunity to join Biden as his running mate in the first place.
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