Paul Hammel
LINCOLN — An investigation has been launched under the Nebraska Legislature’s workplace harassment policy against State Sen. Steve Halloran for comments he made Monday night while reading a violent rape scene in a book.
State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island, who chairs the Legislature’s Executive Board, told his colleagues Wednesday morning that he had personally launched an investigation against Halloran.
Aguilar said he wanted to clear up the “inaccuracies” about the incident, that no action was being explored against Halloran for his statements, which several senators described as “hurtful” and reviving nightmares about past incidents of sexual violence.
“This could not be further from the truth,” Aguilar said, adding that he initiated a complaint “the first thing” on Tuesday morning.
“This formal investigation will be thorough and by the book,” the senator said.
Halloran declined to comment after the announcement on the floor of the Legislature, except to say that Aguilar was in violation of a policy that made such investigations confidential.
Aguilar, during his announcement, said that because Halloran’s comments came during floor debate that was broadcast by Nebraska Public Media, it was determined that the confidentiality requirement no longer applied.
He added that given the “public nature” of the comments, he expected that the final report would be shared with all state senators, as well as the public.
Aguilar said he launched the investigation Tuesday morning, and under the Legislature’s workplace harassment rules, appointed a panel of three state senators to investigate the comments. That panel, whose members were not disclosed, met Tuesday.
That panel will hire an outside investigator, and, under the rules, must report its finding within 45 days.
Aguilar said it was important “that all members of the Legislature and legislative staff” feel safe in the workplace and that all complaints will be taken seriously.
Halloran, during floor debate on a bill related to obscenity, read a portion of a book that graphically described a violent rape, interjecting the words, “Senator Cavanaugh,” frequently during the reading.
The Hastings senator, who is term-limited from running for re-election, said it was an example of the kinds of obscene literature available in some school libraries. He insisted later that he was referring to State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, not his sister, fellow Sen. Michaela Cavanaugh.
But several senators considered the speech an aggressive affront to a fellow senator and said the reading revived troubling memories of sexual violence they, or their families, had endured.
Dunbar Sen. Julie Slama had decried the lack of action against Halloran, while Halloran said the outrage should be directed at the content of the book he had read.
A year ago, the Legislture updated its workplace harassment policies in the wake of a scandal involving then-Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte.
Groene had taken photos of one of his female staff members without her knowledge.
Groene resigned, and later, a seven-week investigation concluded that his behavior was “boorish, brainless and bizarre,” but not illegal.