The big news from late last week, and last weekend, was State Senator Tony Mendoza’s (D- Artesia) resignation from the California Legislature moments before the State Senate was going to vote on whether or not to expel him. His fiery resignation letter hinted that he was not ruling out running for re-election
#MeToo
Why #MeToo hitting the campaign trail matters
As I’ve discussed before, the #MeToo and We Said Enough movements are starting to bring change to the California legislature’s persistent culture of sexual assault and harassment. That process of bringing change has been slow, perhaps too slow.
Furthering that concern are the reports about state Senator Tony Mendoza. He…
Many ways to limit secret sexual harassment settlements
Recent action at the state, federal, and private corporate levels provides a window into the many ways to attack the problem of nondisclosure agreements in sexual harassment settlements.
Bar Nondisclosure Agreements in Settlements
A decade ago, the California Legislature changed the law to bar nondisclosure agreements in settlements of certain serious sexual…
Misconception Monday – Ethics
Hello, and welcome to Episode 5 of my Misconception Monday series. In this series of podcasts, I identify and dispel common misconceptions that are related to the many aspects of the California legislative process.
Today we’ll be moving away from podcasts on common misconceptions as they relate to bills.…
How to Discipline an Elected Official for Misconduct
I spoke about this issue yesterday on ABC 10 in Sacramento with Giacomo Luca.
Matt Lauer and Garrison Keillor are the most recent men terminated by their private employers because of credible allegations of sexual misconduct. Contract terms set out the ability of the media outlets to discipline these employees. But what…
First steps towards fixing the Legislature’s sexual harassment crisis – the need for better records
The Assembly Rules Subcommittee on Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention and Response met yesterday to discuss how the institution will address and change the Assembly – and Senate’s – policies to address and fix the pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the Building.
Earlier this week, Jon Fleischman gave a fairly comprehensive…



