DEMS/LEGAL: “Democrat Andrea Ramsey has dropped out of the race to take on GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder in Kansas after The Kanas City Star began questioning Ramsey about accusations made against her in a 2005 sexual harassment lawsuit.
Ramsey was accused of making sexual advances towards a former employee of LabOne, a company where she worked in human resources. The complaint filed against LabOne claimed that Ramsey made ‘unwelcome sexual advances as well as unwelcome, unwanted and offensive sexual comments and innuendos during his employment’ and that Ramsey moved the employee’s desk, criticized him and eventually fired him after he declined the advances.
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2006. Multiple sources told the Kansas City Star that the employee received a settlement. Ramsey denied the allegations in a lengthy statement published Friday that explained her decision to drop out of the race, saying that the allegation is ‘a lie’ and she didn’t ‘have any opportunity to participate in its resolution’ because she was not named in the lawsuit. LabOne, Ramsey’s employer, was named as the defendant in the lawsuit.
Ramsey is the first congressional candidate to resign amid a wave of other resignations in Washington revolving around sexual harassment. Ramsey was a top recruit for the women-in-politics group EMILY’s List this year and Yoder’s district, which includes parts of Kansas City, is considered a promising potential pickup seat for Democrats.”
-Scott Bland and Maggie Servens, “Female House candidate withdraws over sexual harassment claim,” Politico. Dec. 15, 2017 11:39am