Professor JoAnne Sweeny quoted in story about Kentucky government's response to sexual harassment complaints

Brandeis School of Law Professor JoAnne Sweeny is quoted in a story from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting about Kentucky government agencies' response to sexual harassment complaints. 

" 'Lack Of Good Behavior'? Kentucky Government’s Inconsistent Response To Sexual Harassment" explores 130 sexual harassment complaints filed by employees at several Kentucky government agencies in the past five years, and the agencies' response to those complaints.

No statewide agency handles all complaints; rather, most investigations are handled by the agency where they originate, the report finds. The state employee handbook leaves many of the requirements of those investigations up to the individual agencies. 

“It doesn’t tell you how to investigate, it doesn’t tell you what substantiated means, it doesn’t tell you what the punishment should be. There aren’t guidelines on any of those things,” says Sweeny in the report. “That’s not a system that is doing what it’s supposed to do.”

Sweeny's scholarly interests include law and gender.