ST. CROIX — The Senate Committee on Ethical Conduct recently dismissed a complaint Senator Carla Joseph made against Senator Franklin Johnson alleging sexual harassment and assault stemming from a handshake between both senators while on the floor ahead of legislative session last November.
The five-member Committee on Ethical Conduct voted unanimously to dismiss Joseph’s complaint and not proceed with further investigative/punitive measures, according to the committee’s advisory opinion and final decision dated March 25.
“The Ethics Committee came back with closing the matter,” Senate President Novelle Francis Jr. said. “After reviewing the submittal by both parties, they determined that there was no need to file any further charges, or that the complaint had not amounted to them warranting a full investigation on the matter.”
Joseph said she was disappointed with the length of time it took for the matter to reach the Committee on Ethical Conduct.
“They’re basically saying that the filing of it from the President’s office was untimely,” she said.
Joseph also questioned the investigation process, noting she was never interviewed by the Ethics Committee.
“It’s very egregious that I never was interviewed,” she said. “I never had any discussions with anyone from the Committee on Ethical Conduct.”
Joseph quoted Martin Luther King Jr., stating “justice [too long] delayed is justice denied.”
“My justice and justice for all persons who have been in similar situations is being denied because we are not given an opportunity to be interviewed,” she said.
The committee didn’t interview Johnson either.
Francis said the committee was satisfied based on the statements provided by Joseph and Johnson, noting there was no need for the committee to interview either of them since they outlined their positions in writing.
“I believe that the Ethics Committee followed protocol,” he said, adding that the committee determined the course of action it wanted to take in this matter. “I certainly stand by the decisions by the Ethics Committee.”
Johnson said he expected that the committee would dismiss the complaint.
“What Senator Joseph alleged happened never happened,” he said. “I did not reach out my hand to shake her hand. She reached out her hand to shake my hand.”
Johnson said he shook her hand and asked her to support one of his measures.
“At the time when I was holding her hand, she refused to kind of answer and she tried to pull her hand, and I said, ‘are you gonna support my measure,’” he said. “She then screams out, ‘I want to go to the bathroom; sergeant of arms,’ so I loose her hand and I said, ‘sergeant of arms,’ too.”
The Committee on Ethical Conduct indicated in its advisory opinion and final decision that all five committee members concurred that the CEC was not timely convened in accordance with the rules of the Legislature, but that it appeared to the committee that the complaint was alarming and should be decided on the merits. Johnson, in his February 14 written response to Francis regarding Joseph’s complaint, also indicated the matter had been allowed to “drag on and fester” without following the rules of the Legislature.
Francis noted several issues that allowed for the delay, including a lapse in time from when Joseph filed her initial complaint to when she filed an amended complaint, as well as the time it took for Johnson to respond. He also noted there was a period when the Legislature was out on break. He said, however, the rules were not broken.
“I would certainly agree that the matter created a little bit of a delay because of all those circumstances but, again, it was not in violation of any of the rules and regulations of the time limit established,” he said.
Johnson said he was satisfied with the work performed by the Committee on Ethical Conduct, whose members included Senators Diane Capehart, chair, Samuel Carrión, Dwayne DeGraff, Kenneth Gittens, and Milton Potter.
“I’m more than satisfied that they did their due diligence,” he said. “They didn’t just accept her word, they didn’t just accept my word. They did their due diligence. They looked for cameras. They looked for the review of the cameras, and the most they could see was a handshake. And that’s all it was.”
Joseph submitted a formal complaint to Francis in his capacity as Senate president on November 16, 2023 that alleged Johnson squeezed her hand so hard during a handshake she initiated prior to legislative session on November 14, 2023 that she was unable to pull it loose. She claimed Johnson continued gripping her hand even though she told him she had to use the restroom, alleging a violation of the Legislature’s Rule 808(d) with respect to presenting a hostile environment through abusive conduct and threatening behavior. She claimed that Johnson continued gripping her hand as he told her that she could do what she needed to go to the bathroom to do on the Senate floor. Johnson, in his written response to Francis, denied that he ever said anything of the sort.
Francis responded to Joseph in a letter dated November 21, 2023, informing her she must include a signed statement under the penalty of perjury that the allegations were true. He further requested for her to advise what remedy was being sought if it was her intent to convene the Committee on Ethical Conduct.
Joseph, in a letter to Francis dated December 6, 2023, amended her complaint to include sexual harassment as well as assault and battery, calling for Johnson to submit a written public apology. If Johnson failed to agree to an apology, she requested that the Committee on Ethical Conduct be convened to investigate the matter, suggesting sanctions should include but not be limited to a 30-day suspension and leave without pay.
