Documents show that the United States Treasury Department paid a significant amount of money to settle a lawsuit against Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) for alleged sexual harassment.
The Treasury paid $220,000 to settle sexual misconduct claims made by Winsome Packer — a former staff member of a congressional commission — who claimed in previously undisclosed documents that Hastings “touched her, made unwanted sexual advances, and threatened her job,” according to an exclusive report from Roll Call.
Hastings called the allegations made by Packer “ludicrous” and supposedly denied sexually harassing her in the documents obtained by Roll Call.
“Until this evening, I had not seen the settlement agreement between the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and Ms. Packer,” Hastings said in a statement. “This matter was handled solely by the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment. At no time was I consulted, nor did I know until after the fact that such a settlement was made.”
Jamaican born Packer, a former Republican staffer, told Roll Call that she felt snubbed as a result of her interactions with Hastings and has had difficulty finding employment in the time since.
“As an immigrant who came here with all these ideals, it is like someone just removed all the foundations that I stood on in this country for all these years,” Packer said.