NASHVILLE - Legislative leaders have said that sexual misconduct accusations levied against ex-lawmaker Jeremy Durham are not demonstrative of the state Capitol culture, but officials have refused to give data about sexual harassment in state government.
The Tennessean reports that the General Assembly was the only one of the state's 45 agencies and departments that did not provide it with any data.
The newspaper found that at least 460 sexual harassment complaints have been lodged against state employees or contractors since 2010.
The Tennessee Department of Human Resources acknowledges that all complaints are public record, but director of legislative administration Connie Ridley has refused to provide any information about complaints.
Ridley has cited legislative policy when not providing raw data about previous complaints or acknowledging the existence of any investigations.