With two members leaving in disgrace this year, the Florida Senate is facing a barrage of questions about sexual harassment policies in the Capitol.
President Joe Negron insists recent changes to the notification policy were meant to improve reporting.
“The bottom line is we have zero tolerance—we have a pro-report policy," Negron says. "The new policy that came out in the administrative rules actually elevated the seriousness of any allegation. Instead of sending it somewhere in the bureaucracy to say that the buck stops in the Senate president’s office.”
Those changes encouraged reporting to an immediate supervisor or the Senate chief of staff instead of a human resources representative. Negron’s office later clarified employees should report harassment to any official they feel comfortable with.
