Elected Official Accused Of Pressuring Her Aide Into Sex & Making Him Run Her Errands

There is drama in Thurston County, Washington, involving a county commissioner and one of her former aides. The former aide has filed a lawsuit asking for $750,000 in damages due to accusations he made against his former boss.

Allyn Hershey filed a lawsuit in November accusing Thurston County Commissioner Emily Clouse, 30, of sexually harassing an underling and pressuring him into dating her. This was several months after he reported her to the county’s Human Resources department.

The NY Post reports that in addition to the alleged sexual harassment by the county commissioner and being pressured into a relationship, Clouse allegedly made Hershey run her errands, buy her things, loan her money, and paint her house.

The relationship came to light on July 29 when Hershey reported it to HR along with the alleged sexual harassment. Thirty minutes later, Clouse fired him. A few days later in early August, she was suspended from some of her duties.

Hershey was placed on administrative leave and an outside investigator was then brought in to get to the bottom of the aide's claims against the suspended commissioner.

County Commissioner Emily Clouse was found to have fallen short of her professional expectations

The investigator released a report on the matter on Friday and, according to The Olympian, Clouse was found to have likely acted against the best interest of the county. She also fell short of her professional expectations.

Interesting wording, but the report wasn’t finished there. Clouse was also found to have not likely sexually harassed or retaliated against her executive aide.

What a turn of events here for the good people of Thurston County. Here they thought they had elected a relatively attractive woman who likes to color her hair to act in the best interest of their county.

Unfortunately, she didn’t live up to that. In between conducting the county's business she was evidently hooking up with her aide and having him paint her house.

The report's conclusions appear to "absolve the county of liability for sexual harassment and retaliation," states The Olympian. But it also shined a light on Clouse's concerning behavior.

That behavior includes hiding a romantic relationship with an underling and accepting money and gifts from him without repayment. Concerning, indeed. Despite the report, this situation doesn’t appear to be headed for a conclusion just yet.

Hersey disagrees with the findings and said in response, "I feel like the public deserves to know the true reality of this investigation and things that they’re leaving out."

His lawyer added that the report's findings weren’t surprising given that the county paid for the investigation to be conducted. Clouse's legal representation has a different view of the situation.

"It’s a witch hunt to poke into other aspects of her private life and put them on display in an effort to keep her silenced."

I don’t know which side is the one to be believed here. It's almost certain that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but it sounds like the ride isn’t coming to an end anytime soon.

The folks in Thurston County deserve better from their sometimes blue-haired elected officials.