Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) did not immediately move to fire her chief of staff, who was accused of abusing another staffer, and recommended the chief of staff for another job, a decision Esty says she now regrets.
“I was conflicted at (that) time, but less so now,” Esty told the Connecticut Post on Thursday. “He had made efforts to get counseling and treatment. I believe in second chances for people.”
She also said that she wished staff had come to her sooner with allegations of abuse.
“I certainly regret that people didn’t come to me sooner,” she said. “It continues to trouble me that they felt they couldn’t. We need to change that. I am changing that.”
On May 5, 2016, Esty’s then-chief of staff, Tony Baker, left a threatening voicemail for fellow staffer Anna Klein, according to the Washington Post.
“You better f—–g reply to me or I will f—–g kill you,” Baker said in the recording obtained by the Washington Post.
Baker had also allegedly punched Kain at Esty’s Washington, D.C. office and screamed at her, telling her that if she reported his behavior he would keep her from getting a new job, according to an affidavit obtained by the Connecticut Post.
Esty found out about Baker’s threatening May 5 voicemail about a week after he left it, according to emails obtained by the Washington Post. Esty then spoke to Kain, who detailed Baker’s behavior, and Esty asked a friend to investigate Baker’s background, according to the Washington Post.
The investigation uncovered a pattern of abusive behavior, and Esty fired Baker on July 20, 2016, according to the Connecticut Post. He was barred from being at the office as of July 24, 2016, but accompanied Esty to the Democratic convention before his final departure, according to the Washington Post.
Esty told the Washington Post she consulted with the Office of House Employment to negotiate Baker’s departure. She said she felt pressured to sign a nondisclosure agreement with Baker. The agreement had secrecy provisions, gave Baker a severance and included a draft recommendation letter from Esty, according to the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the agreement.
Baker went on to work at Sandy Hook Promise, though he has since left. Esty told the Connecticut Post that she did not try to find Baker a job at the group but supplied him with a recommendation as was dictated by the nondisclosure agreement.
Esty told the Washington Post she consulted with the Office of House Employment to negotiate Baker’s departure. She said she felt pressured to sign a nondisclosure agreement with Baker. The agreement had secrecy provisions, gave Baker a severance and included a draft recommendation letter from Esty, according to the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the agreement.
She’s my rep. I’m pissed and letting her know that. This whole line of “feeling pressured to sign an NDA” smells to high heaven.
What does Baker have on Esty?
Isn’t that what this is all about?
“This has been a true learning moment,” Ms. Etsy will soon say, quietly grateful this news fell on a Friday, and the eve of a religious holiday so people will quickly need to forgive her and forget.
Recommending that SOB to Sandy Hook Promise has legs. CT won’t forgive that. I told her that I look forward to supporting another Democrat when she runs for reelection.
It seems that the proper course would have been for Etsy to put Baker on administrative leave as soon as she found out about the message, conduct the investigation, and then fire his ass for cause.