Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee will step down from two influential posts after a former staffer sued the Texas Democrat for allegedly firing her over a rape complaint.
Jackson Lee will resign as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s chairwoman, according to the New York Times Wednesday. She’ll also temporarily stand down from leading a House Judiciary subcommittee, the newspaper reported. The foundation, a spokesman for the House Judiciary panel, and Glenn Rushing, Jackson Lee’s chief of staff, did not immediately return the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
The lawsuit, filed this month, claims Jackson Lee retaliated against the woman referred to in court documents only as “Jane Doe” after she requested a meeting with the congresswoman in March 2018 about an alleged sexual assault three years prior. Doe is seeking at least $75,000 in damages from Jackson Lee and the foundation, who are both named defendants in the suit, for harm caused to her career and emotional stress.
Doe alleges she was raped in 2015 when she was a 19-year-old intern for the foundation by her supervisor, Damien Jones. Doe reported her assault to police and told other people about it around the time of the incident. She elected not to explore legal recourse despite DNA evidence obtained through a medical examination. Jones was eventually placed on leave from the foundation after a complaint from Doe.
The alleged rape was revisited after Doe was hired by Lee’s office in 2017 as special assistant and director of public engagement because Jones was being considered for another position on the congresswoman’s staff.
In early March 2018, Doe told Rushing she was planning to pursue legal action against the foundation and asked to meet Jackson Lee. Doe was fired by the end of the month due to “budgetary issues,” which she alleges was only a pretense for her dismissal.
In a statement to the Times Wednesday, Jackson Lee’s office touted her record pushing for better workplace safety and nondiscrimination laws, including in Congress.
“The congresswoman is confident that, once all of the facts come to light, her office will be exonerated of any retaliatory or otherwise improper conduct and this matter will be put to rest,” the statement said.
