Report: Minnesota Paid Out $709K In Sexual Harassment Claims

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A new state report says Minnesota’s government paid out $709,500 in the past six years to settle sexual harassment complaints in executive branch agencies. The data comes alongside a recommendation Friday to establish an independent office to receive and investigate sexual harassment complaints.

Gov. Mark Dayton ordered a review of the state’s sexual harassment policies in November after two state legislators were accused of sexual misconduct. Both men later resigned.

The report was limited to the state’s 23 executive branch agencies and did not examine policies in the Legislature. But it discovered 266 sexual harassment complaints filed between 2012 and 2017.

More than half were substantiated. The report didn’t specify the consequences in those.