A female Democratic candidate for Congress plans to drop out of the race after she was questioned about a 2005 sexual harassment lawsuit alleging she retaliated against a male subordinate who rejected her.
Andrea Ramsey, 56, and a retired businesswoman, was running to challenge Rep. Kevin Yoder in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. She had the support of the liberal women’s group EMILY’s List.
In 2005, Ms. Ramsey was running the human resources department at LabOne — a medical laboratory service center — when she terminated Gary Funkhouser, the Kansas City Star reported. He brought a lawsuit against the company and named her in it saying that he was fired for rejecting her sexual advances. The case was settled out of court.
“In its rush to claim the high ground in our roiling national conversation about harassment, the Democratic Party has implemented a zero tolerance standard,” Ms. Ramsey said in a statement on her Facebook page. “For me, that means a vindictive, terminated employee’s false allegations are enough for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to decide not to support our promising campaign. We are in a national moment where rough justice stands in place of careful analysis, nuance and due process.”
The conversation about sexual harassment has penetrated politics with Democratic Sen. Al Franken resigning after claims he groped and forcibly kissed several women. Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold also announced he would not be running for re-election after it was discovered he used taxpayer money to fund a sexual harassment settlement.
Ms. Ramsey’s case is among the first where a woman was forced to resign or step down after accusations of sexual misconduct.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.