The News Tribune (Lite) - Sutherland harassment case doesn’t rise to outrage level

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Section: Opinion

Sutherland harassment case doesn’t rise to outrage level

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
It’s hard to work up a big head of steam over Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland’s clumsy behavior toward a female employee.

The behavior in question – touching her back and making some allegedly suggestive comments – happened in January 2005. He apologized to the woman after she complained, and he met with a human- resources manager for a refresher on harassment policy. The woman left the Department of Natural Resources, which Sutherland heads, shortly after the incident and has not taken any legal action against Sutherland or his department.

Barring new allegations, this appears to have been an isolated incident. No other harassment complaints have been lodged against Sutherland since he became lands commissioner in 2001, and no complaints were made when he was Pierce County executive and mayor of Tacoma.

What’s most telling about the revelation of the 3-year-old incident is where it came from: supporters of Peter Goldmark, the Democrat opposing Republican Sutherland’s bid for a third term. They requested the documents in the case and provided them to news media and a Seattle-based blog.

Now the state Democratic Party – presumably including people who in the past defended Gov. Mike Lowry and President Bill Clinton when they were accused of inappropriate actions – is calling Sutherland’s behavior “abhorrent.”

Disappointing and kind of creepy, yes. But we’ll save words like “abhorrent” to describe child abuse and genocide in Darfur.

That shouldn’t be interpreted as excusing sexual harassment. But this incident cries out for context. Sutherland apparently made a mistake of judgment, and he took corrective action. To dredge up this case more than three years later is pure partisan politics.

Goldmark’s supporters have better fodder to use against Sutherland. For instance, the state Department of Transportation claims that the DNR fails to adequately restrict logging on slide-prone hillsides near highways. DOT geologists say that led to a massive landslide that covered Highway 6 near Pe Ell that took three months and $3.3 million to clean up.

That kind of criticism of Sutherland’s leadership would be more impressive. Rehashing an old, settled case of inappropriate behavior smacks of desperation.