This story was originally published on MinnesotaReformer.com [1]
   Licensed under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 [2]
   --------------------------------------------------------------

House DFL staff show solidarity with former Senate staffer who says she was harassed
By:   ['J. Patrick Coolican', 'More From Author', '- August'], Minnesota Reformer
Date: None

Three dozen Democratic-Farmer-Labor staff in the Minnesota House rose in support of Cynthia Callais, a former Senate aide, who told the Reformer in a recent story that she was sexually harassed by a DFL operative, Clay Schwartzwalter.

Callais worked in the state Senate for state Sen. Jason Isaacson, who is Schwartzwalter’s half-brother. Schwartzwalter had also been campaign manager of Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent, DFL-Woodbury.

“We stand in complete support of Callais and all survivors sexual harassment and assault,” the letter from 36 House DFL staff begins.

Callais, who now works at the state teachers union, said the harassment spanned two workplaces — both the Legislature and the campaign — and that her efforts to get a full Senate investigation and a mediation with Isaacson from Senate DFL leadership were rebuffed.

The accused staffer Schwartzwalter resigned from Kent’s campaign and was dismissed from his job at the Minnesota House after an investigation following complaints from a separate staffer.

Democratic state senators are calling for an outside investigation of the sexual harassment claims and how they were handled.

Late Friday, state Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, joined Sens. Melissa Franzen, DFL-Edina, Lindsey Port, DFL- Burnsville, and Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, in calling for an investigation.

Kent and her chief of staff John Pollard, who is close to Isaacson, both defended their handling of the situation. Kent said her swift action forcing Schwartzwalter to resign was an effort to protect Callais. Pollard said any reports of harassment were appropriately reported to Senate human resources.

Schwartzwalter previously told the Reformer the allegations were “either gross mischaracterizations or simply not true” while declining to say more. “I have no desire to disparage her or make an already difficult situation worse.”

[1] Url: https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/house-dfl-staff-show-solidarity-with-former-senate-staffer-who-says-she-was-harassed/
[2] Url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

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