Oklahoma lawmakers call for representative's resignation amid sexual harassment, conflict probe

After having two meetings behind closed doors to discuss allegations of sexual harassment, inappropriate workplace behavior, and potential conflicts of interest against Williams, the House Rules Committee, led by Chair Mike Osburn, assembled publicly to address its findings.

"This is a unique situation, and it comes with unique responsibilities and limitations," Osburn said to open the meeting.

"Representative Williams was elected by 40,000 Oklahomans to represent them in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The Rules Committee does not take that responsibility lightly, nor is it the committee's role to simply remove an elected official from office."

The committee's responsibility, he said, is to determine the next steps based on what they found in the third-party investigations the House conducted into the allegations.

Lawmakers said the specifics are sparse to protect the privacy of victims, but the allegations include several instances of verbal and physical sexual harassment and other forms of inappropriate behavior, like leaving a cup of urine on a staffer's desk, which Williams has denied.

Those investigations shed light on potential conflicts of interest involving Williams' elected office too, which the Oklahoma Ethics Commission announced it's looking into last month.

After his opening remarks, Osburn let Williams speak.

"In my heart, I feel like I have fully cooperated and answered every question that's been asked of me, and I have maintained and continue to maintain the fact that I believe I have not broken any rule or broken any law," Williams said. "I am comforted that my constituents, friends, and neighbors know the person I am. And they have literally supported me every day during this process. And for that, I will forever be grateful. Thank you."

Lionel Ramos / KOSU

What the committee landed on

The committee read three motions.

Motion 1: A formal censure by the entire House caucus against Williams for "disorderly behavior." This motion passed unanimously (9-0), but would need to happen next year on the floor, after the session starts, with a new slate of lawmakers who would need to be caught up on the details.

Motion 2: A formal censure in the Rules Committee specifically, and a recommendation that Williams resign and withdraw from running for re-election. This took effect immediately after passing with an 8-1 vote.

Motion 3: A list of recommended actions for the House Speaker to take this year and next, assuming Williams doesn't resign and wins re-election. With another 8-1 vote, the committee recommended:

• No one-on-one engagement with any House staffers
• No assigned legislative assistant
• No committee membership at all
• No improvement to office location because of seniority
• No less than 80 hours of workforce behavior training and counseling, including but not limited to sexual harassment and toxic workplace training
• Jurisdiction over Williams' behavior should stay with the House Rules Committee, in case a future need for action against him arises, pending the ethics commission's investigation.

Lionel Ramos / KOSU

What House leadership has to say

After the meeting, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and House Rules Chair Mike Osburn held a press gaggle. Hilbert called Williams' situation "death by a thousand cuts."

"What the committee saw was not a single action that led to this, but a recurring pattern of behavior, culminating in 11 witnesses testifying reporting towards what they saw or what they experienced as inappropriate behavior," Hilbert said.

Williams has already been expelled from his committee assignments, Hilbert said. And while he's looking at taking most of the other recommendations, Hilbert said he can't enforce the sexual harassment training as a prerequisite for serving in the House.

"Because the requirements to serve as a member of the House of Representatives are in the Constitution, " he said. "We cannot add to or take away those requirements that are in the Constitution."

And sexual harassment training is not part of those requirements, he said, adding there will be further sexual harassment training for members at caucus retreats – ideally for both the majority and minority caucuses.

When reporters asked whether the investigation's findings amounted to criminal violations by Williams, Osburn said not as far as the House is concerned.

"In this instance, we do not believe that there was any criminal behavior involved in this," Osburn said. "This is a personnel matter, and it was handled as a personnel matter and a civil matter."