U.S. Representative Alcee Hastings, a Democrat from south Florida, is being sued for quid pro quo sexual harassment and retaliation by a staff member of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The woman says that Hastings made unwanted sexual advances toward her for years, at one point making it clear that her career advancement depended on her acquiescence. When she complained to the Commission, she says, she was ignored and then retaliated against.

You may remember Hastings, who was once a federal judge in Florida, from his 1988 congressional impeachment for bribery and perjury. He was convicted by the U.S. Senate in 1989, but the Senate did not bar him from seeking another federal office. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 and is currently serving his tenth term as a Congressman.

Woman says Hastings gave her a prestigious post in Vienna, then tried to set it up as a love nest

In 2007, after chastising her for being a Republican, Congressman Hastings offered the plaintiff a position with the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Soon after, Hastings offered her a prestigious posting to Vienna, repeatedly telling her "that once she had found and settled into her new apartment in Vienna, he would come to Vienna to stay with her for a week," she says in her complaint.

Worried that her party affiliation made her job vulnerable, she kept quiet at first, hoping to deflect the Congressman's romantic interest in her. Unfortunately, once she arrived in Vienna, Hastings continued to pursue her, bringing gifts, inappropriately hugging her, asking her what kind of underwear she wore, and suggesting that he stay at her apartment.

She told the Commission's staff director, Fred Turner, but he offered no concrete help. Instead, he suggested methods for deflecting the Congressman's sexual advances, then threatened to fire her if she continued to complain.

The Congressman's sexual advances ultimately progressed to quid pro quo sexual harassment.

"Mr. Hastings intention was crystal clear: he was sexually attracted to [the plaintiff], wanted a sexual relationship with her, and would help progress her career if she acquiesced to his sexual advances," reads the complaint.

After requesting to be transferred back to Washington, D.C., she filed a formal complaint with the Office of Compliance both about Hastings' sexual harassment and about Turner's intimidation of and retaliation against her. Turner responded with further retaliation, excluding her from Commission correspondence and refusing her travel requests.

The emotional distress caused by the harassment and retaliation was significant enough to cause her to develop high blood pressure, which has resulted in coronary artery disease. Her hypertension once caused her to faint during a meeting, and emergency responders told her that her blood pressure was so high she could have suffered a heart attack or stroke.

The woman is suing Hastings, Turner, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe for gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. She is seeking punitive damages.

Source: Courthouse News Service, "Alcee Hastings Accused of Sexual Harassment," Ryan Abbott, March 9, 2011