Bill penalizes those filing sexual harassment lawsuits — if they lose

Tennessee’s attorney general is pushing a revision in the rules for sexual harassment lawsuits at the same time he is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Rep. Jeremy Durham, reports The Tennessean.

This law change would specifically apply to people suing a state employee over sexual harassment claims, noted Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart. The Nashville Democrat said the legislation would make it harder than ever for people to seek legal protection in the event they are harassed by a state employee.

“At a time when the Attorney General is tasked with a wide-ranging sexual harassment investigation, it is entirely inappropriate that the Attorney General is also seeking to pass a law that will, for the first time, threaten interns, lobbyists and others working in and around the Legislature with potentially devastating sanctions for pursuing sexual harassment claims,” Stewart said in a statement.