MONTPELIER – Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced a new mandatory ethics training that will deal with sexual harassment in the workplace. This training will be fully compulsory for that one guy for whom the governor feels the training will meet an immediate need. All other state employees will not be required to take the training because, as the governor put it, “they seem cool.”
While the impacted employee was not named specifically in the updated policy that requires the training, everyone at the state house knew who it was referring to without needing clarification. The employee in question was named by various staffers as “Dave,” “Brad,” “Steve,” “Mike,” “Joe,” and “That creepy guy from HR.” It was unclear if these are all the same person, or if there is a degree of ambiguity in the new policy.
Some have pushed the governor to make the training mandatory for all state employees, but the state does not currently have the funding for such an undertaking. There is federal money available for programs to stop sexual assault and abuse, but these funds are restricted and may only be used when Democrats are accused of harassment. As a Republican governor, Scott has no access to these funds as there is currently no Republican system in place to identify or remove sexual predators from conservative government work.
Image Credits: VT Digger.
Sad times when you have to train somebody to be a sexual harasser!