BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Republican state senator is calling on Louisiana's secretary of state to resign after being accused of sexual harassment of an employee.
Sen. Sharon Hewitt is the first GOP official to urge Republican Secretary of State Tom Schedler to step down. In a statement Wednesday, Hewitt said she believes Schedler, who she described as a friend, "can no longer be an effective leader or role model for our state."
A lawsuit filed against Schedler last week accused the secretary of state of sexually harassing an employee for years and punishing her after she rebuffed repeated advances. Schedler responded through a spokeswoman by saying that he and his accuser had a "consensual sexual relationship." The woman's lawyer denied that claim.
Schedler is in his second term as Louisiana's top elections officer.
