Tennessee House Republican resigns after violating discrimination and harassment policy

Melissa Brown | Nashville Tennessean

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – As lawmakers filed into the House chamber after a lunch break on Thursday, the desk of former state Rep. Scotty Campbell sat empty, the characteristic lawmaker name plate missing from its front.

Campbell, R-Mountain City, resigned from the General Assembly in a sudden move Thursday, less than two hours after he told The Tennessean, part of the Paste BN Network, he had no plans to step down from a Republican caucus leadership position over a harassment policy violation.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, confirmed Thursday afternoon Campbell had issued a letter of resignation after an ethics subcommittee last month found Campbell had violated a workplace discrimination and harassment policy.

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'Not be tolerated'

According to the memo, its findings were addressed to Sexton on March 29. The Tennessean has requested further comment from Sexton's office on when he was made aware of Campbell's violation and whether Sexton pursued any internal sanctions against Campbell before the memo was publicized.

"Discrimination and harassment in any form will not be tolerated," the subcommittee memo states.

Initially, there were no public repercussions for Campbell, the Republican Caucus vice chair, in the three weeks since the subcommittee issued their findings.

The memo was first reported by NewsChannel5, which reported at least one legislative intern complained of alleged sexually harassing communications from Campbell.

As the story broke inside the House chamber on Thursday right before lawmakers took a lunch break, Campbell sat at his desk with his head down.

Previosuly, Campbell declined to comment on the accusations that led to the ethics complaint and said he did not "at this point" have plans to resign.

"I have no comment in accordance with the General Assembly's policy," Campbell said.

Campbell never returned to the House chamber after walking out.

House GOP Caucus' response

House GOP Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, told The Tennessean he had "just found out about" the ethics finding on Thursday morning and would need to review the details before passing judgment.

"This is all hypothetical that I'm answering right now, but if you have behaved in such a way that a bipartisan group has found you guilty, that's a problem," Faison said.

Rep. Pat March, R-Shelbyville, chairs the House Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Subcommittee. Democratic Reps. Karen Camper of Memphis and Bill Beck of Nashville sit on the subcommittee, along with Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin.

Under the legislature’s harassment policy, an internal investigation must begin immediately after the complaints are received. The investigation would have led to a report, which would have been provided to the four-member House Ethics Subcommittee.

Resignation comes after 'Tennessee Three' expulsion

The subcommittee meeting convened at a fraught time in the Tennessee House, just two days after the deadly Covenant School shooting that sparked days of highly charged gun reform protests on the Capitol. Days later, House Republicans moved to expel three Democratic lawmakers who broke House rules to briefly lead a gun reform protest on the House floor.

It was an unprecedentedly political expulsion vote, as the House had not expelled a member since the 2018 expulsion of Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, over sexual misconduct allegations involving nearly two dozen women.

In February 2017, Rep. Mark Lovell, R-Eads, left office while facing allegations of sexual harassment. Lovell, who was a freshman lawmaker, was later found to have violated the legislature’s harassment policy.

In 2019, Knoxville Democratic Rep. Rick Staples stepped down from a leadership position after the subcommittee found he violated the policy.

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