Report Suggests New Office for Sexual Harassment Complaints

Report Will be Addressed by Legislative Leaders Later Today

ST. PAUL, Minn.-A new state report says Minnesota’s government should establish an independent office to receive and investigate sexual harassment complaints.

Gov. Mark Dayton ordered a review of the state’s sexual harassment policies in November after two state legislators were accused of sexual misconduct. Both men later resigned.

The report released Friday was limited to the state’s 23 executive branch agencies and did not examine policies in the Legislature. But it discovered 266 sexual harassment complaints were filed between 2012 and 2017.

More than half of those complaints were substantiated after an investigation while 40 percent were found to be unsubstantiated, later withdrawn or filed by an employee who left their job. The report doesn’t specify the consequences in substantiated cases.

Top state officials were set to address the report Friday.