BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – An effort to make Louisiana officials pay a share of sexual harassment settlements, rather than rely entirely on taxpayer dollars is nearing final passage.
 
Republican Sen. Sharon Hewitt says she wants to make sure taxpayers aren’t on the hook if a person committed sexual misconduct.
 
Under her proposal, if Louisiana’s self-insurance office determines a sexual harassment claim is valid, it would require the person accused of the conduct to pay all or part of any settlement or legal judgment reached in the case.
 
The House and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced the measure to the House floor Wednesday without objection, moving it steps from final passage.
 
A recent audit showed Louisiana has spent more than $5 million on lawsuits involving sexual harassment claims since 2009.

For more stories like this that matter to you, click here to download the News 10 app for free.

Watch live newscasts, get breaking news and sign up for push alerts – download now