House Ethics Committee recommends leadership admonish Rep. Weinberg and urge harassment training

The House Committee on Ethics on Tuesday recommended that House leadership send a letter of admonition to Representative Weinberg and that the letter include a recommendation that he undertake harassment training through the Legislature’s human resources office.

The committee chair opened the meeting by reviewing the procedural history: a hearing request was filed on March 4, the committee met on March 9, and Representative Weinberg asked on March 10 to withdraw the hearing. Christie Chase of the Office of Legislative Legal Services told members the committee’s remaining work was to prepare a final report and decide whether to make recommendations to leadership or dismiss the complaint.

Why it matters: The committee previously found probable cause on two allegations related to Representative Weinberg, including allegations of harassment stemming from events at the Brown Palace and alleged improper use of a master key to access areas at times he should not have been present. The committee did not find probable cause on a campaign-finance allegation and deferred to the Secretary of State’s office, which has an active proceeding on that matter.

Representative Soper moved the first recommendation, asking leadership (the Speaker, majority leader and minority leader) to send a letter of admonition to Representative Weinberg “disapproving of the behavior that took place at the Brown Palace as demonstrated by a pattern, with [harassment] and the access of the master key and accessing places at times when he shouldn't have been there.” Representative Mabry seconded the motion; the roll call passed 5–0.

On the training recommendation, members debated whether the committee should recommend training absent an evidentiary hearing. Representative Soper said he ‘‘struggle[d]’’ with recommending mandatory training without a higher evidentiary showing: “Requiring someone to undertake [harassment] training, to me, is something you do when you have that black and white evidence.” Representative Mabry replied, “I respectfully disagree… I think that if there were more evidence… both these things can be true at the same time,” arguing the training recommendation need not imply a finding beyond probable cause. The committee voted 5–0 to include a recommendation that Representative Weinberg undertake harassment training through the legislative HR office.

OLLS and committee staff will draft a final report that documents the committee’s meetings, lists allegations considered and states which allegations lacked probable cause and which had probable cause. Christie Chase said OLLS will circulate a draft to committee members for sign-off and then submit the final report to the Speaker for placement in the legislative journal.

Next steps: The committee’s recommendations are advisory; Ed DiCecco of the Office of Legislative Legal Services explained that leadership has discretion whether to draft or send the letter and how to phrase it. The committee’s draft report and recommendations will be circulated to members for approval before submission. The committee adjourned after confirming those directions.