Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Esty apologizes for failing to protect staffers from abuse

  • Politics
  • by Ana Radelat
  • March 29, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

CTMirror File Photo

U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, speaking to supporters.

Washington – Rep. Elizabeth Esty apologized to current and former staffers Thursday for failing to notice that her former chief of staff, Tony Baker, had been abusive to her staffers and for failing to take swifter action in firing him.

“It’s awful and I feel terrible for everyone who was hurt,” said Esty, D-5th District.

Baker was fired in August of 2016, three months after Esty became aware of complaints about Baker from Julie Sweet, who had preceded Baker as chief of staff.

Esty said Sweet contacted her after a Cinco de Mayo party her staffers attended on Capitol Hill in 2016. Sweet told Esty she had heard a number of reports about Baker’s behavior. Those included an allegation by Anna Kain, a former staffer who had had a relationship with Baker, that he had left about 50 messages and texts on her phone the night of the party.

A  phone call to Baker seeking comment was not returned.

The Washington Post reported that  one message left by Baker for Kain on May 5, 2016 said “You better f—–g reply to me or I will f—–g kill you,”

Kain, who provided a copy of the recording to The Washington Post, alerted the police, filed a report for felony threats and obtained a 12-month restraining order against Baker.

Esty said The Washington Post had been working on the  story for some time, but it was Hearst Media who first published the allegations against Baker Thursday.

The day after the Cinco de Mayo party, Esty said she called Baker into her office and suggested he receive counseling, or help with alcohol addiction.

Esty also said she contacted the House general counsel on how to conduct an investigation and launched a probe of Baker’s behavior, interviewing every staffer in Washington, D.C., and her district offices, as well as some former employees.

At the end of her investigation in July, Esty determined “there was a pattern of verbally abusive behavior” and that the staffer who had dated Baker confirmed an account of physical abuse.

Esty said she dismissed Baker from her staff soon after, giving him $5,000 in severance pay. Esty said she will write a personal check in that amount to the U.S. Treasury to compensate taxpayers.

She also said she urged Baker to return to his native Ohio, where “he had family to support him.”

At the direction of the House employment counsel, Esty also signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevented her from disparaging Baker or discussing why he left.

After leaving Esty’s office, Baker worked for Sandy Hook Promise.

Stephanie Morris, a spokeswoman for the group, said Baker is not employed there, but she did not respond to questions about when he left the organization.

Esty said that “in hindsight,” she should have acted sooner and suspended Baker the day after the Cinco de Mayo story.

“The whole process took too long,” she said.

Esty said she was totally unaware of Baker’s behavior because, until Sweet brought it to her attention, no one else had.

“I thought I was accessible, I thought people could talk to me,” she said.

Esty said the  #metoo movement  prompted Kain to tell her story.

After a number of disclosures about sexual abuse and harassment on Capitol Hill, the U.S. House last month approved a bill aimed at reforming the way sexual misconduct allegations are handled. The Senate has not taken up the legislation.

Esty said even more must be done to protect victims of abuse in the U.S. Capitol.

She said the current system, in which each office determines its own employee policies, make no sense.

“There’s no HR department, no standard employee handbook,” Esty said. “We need a standard employee policy.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
CT tax fairness debate heats up with new pandemic relief on the way
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut’s tax fairness debate shifted into high gear as state officials eye $2.6 billion in new pandemic relief from Washington.

Questions officials still haven’t answered after weeks of hearings on the Capitol attack
by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan | ProPublica

After two weeks of congressional hearings, it remains unclear how a rampaging mob of rioters managed to breach one of the most sacred bastions of American democracy on Jan. 6. During more than 15 hours of testimony, lawmakers listened to a cacophony of competing explanations as officials stumbled over themselves to explain how America’s national […]

Plan to expand child tax credit offers hope along with direct payments
by Lisa Backus | C-HIT.ORG

When her car started making a noise more than a year ago, Chinara Johnson parked the vehicle and hasn’t used it since. As a New Haven mother of 5-year-old twin boys, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, and an 8-year-old daughter, Johnson doesn’t have the money to get the car running properly again. […]

Capitol cop: ‘I don’t trust the people above me’
by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan | ProPublica

How failures of leadership put Capitol cops at risk; allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.

Miguel Cardona is one step closer to becoming next U.S. education secretary
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

In a swift meeting, senators voted 17 to 5 to forward Cardona's nomination to the U.S. Senate for final approval.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion College students in Connecticut should be vaccinated now
by Dayna Vadala

If the state of Connecticut wants its institutions of higher learning to return to normal in the fall, it’s going to have to get shots into the arms of the students.

Opinion Connecticut, be a International leader against hair discrimination among children
by Faith D. Crittenden, Jade A. Anderson, MD, and Whitney L. Stuard

On March 1, 2020, Connecticut became the eighth state to pass the Crown Act, a national legislative movement that recognizes natural hair and cultural headwear discrimination as a form of racial discrimination in the workplace. While we are  in strong support and advocate for this law, it is important to recognize the limitations of the Crown Act and how it can be improved upon in future policy.

Opinion Three lessons for schools across America from Secretary Cardona’s hometown
by Mark Benigni

Over the past decade, Meriden Public Schools -- where U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona served as assistant superintendent -- has become a unique laboratory for new ideas that push the boundaries of what is possible in public education. And many of those ideas have paid off.

Opinion A healthcare system too broken to fix
by Sosena Kedebe MD

On March 25, the White house announced that it was going to invest over $6 billion in health centers that are funded through the Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in order to expand COVID-19 vaccinations and other health services provided to vulnerable populations. As a chief medical officer for a health center that is strained to reach some of the most disenfranchised patient population in Hartford, this was great news. Yet there was a part of me that took the news with a deep concern. Why you might ask?

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO