After Yeas & Nays reported Friday that seven of the Marijuana Policy Project’s 38 employees resigned in August because of an alleged sexual encounter between Executive Director Rob Kampia and a subordinate after a happy hour, Kampia said he will step down from his position for a three-month stint in sexual rehabilitation therapy. The organization first felt backlash from the incident when Kampia announced in an e-mail to staff that four employees would be leaving the MPP because of “something that happened outside the office a few days ago involving me.”
Initially, the department heads asked Kampia to resign, but their request was rebuffed. Kampia said Board Chairman Peter Lewis would no longer fund the organization without his leadership.
Kampia stayed on the job with an order to attend sensitivity classes, according to former MPP workers, and a formal sexual harassment policy was adopted.
He told The Washington Post on Tuesday that he would enter treatment.
Three additional employees resigned by the end of August, including former Membership Director Salem Pearce, who said she was unhappy with how the issue was handled.
“The incident on Aug. 6 I think represented the culmination of a pattern of behavior by Rob,” Pearce told Yeas & Nays.
Does Pearce think therapy will cure Kampia?
“It’s hard to imagine, I hope so. I think it is probably overdue, but I don’t think it should mean that he should keep his job.”
