Feb. 3, 2026
Workplace (mis)conduct: Absence of evidence or evidence of absence?
The California Legislature's #MeToo-era misconduct unit has seen lawsuits against lawmakers plummet -- but critics say that may mean it's burying complaints, not resolving them.
When the California Legislature created the Workplace Conduct Unit in 2018, it was supposed to be the institutional answer to #MeToo -- a clean, independent mechanism to handle harassment, discrimination, retaliation and other internal misconduct complaints.
One piece of evidence may suggest the unit is working: The number of lawsuits by legislative staff against the Assembly, Senate and elected members has dropped off a cliff in the years since it was created.
But two ...
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