Maryland’s House of Delegates voted to publicly reprimand Democratic Del. Jay Jalisi for “bullying and abusive workplace behavior.”
The 136-0 vote occurred after the delegates received a report outlining the investigation conducted by the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics that found Jalisi forced legislative staff to work overtime without pay and bullied others, the Baltimore Sun reports.
According to the committee, in one instance, Jalisi, 53, forced a staffer to stand in his office and repeat, “I am incompetent. I am incompetent.”
Also in the spotlight was a 2015 protective order from a judge in Baltimore that barred Jalisi from making contact with his then-teenage daughter after she accused him of “verbal harassment, intimidation, persistently following to places or demanding whereabouts, slandering” and slapping her during an argument.
“As members of this House, we have a duty to protect our dedicated staff,” Democrat co-chairman of the committee Del. Samuel Rosenberg said before the vote. “No elected official has the right to abuse and belittle others.”
Jalisi called the accusations levied against him a “political hit job.”
“Sadly, over the past few months, I have been the target of a nasty smear campaign and a sham investigation by a powerful lobby in Annapolis,” Jalisi said in the statement.
The vote on the reprimand, a form of discipline on the delegate, came after Jalisi refused to go to participate in anger management and “learn from the advice and guidance” offered to him according to the committee report.
