Ana Ceballos
Allison Tant, the former Florida Democratic Party chairwoman, said Friday that out of “moral necessity” Stephen Bittel, the current party chairman criticized for creating a hostile work environment for women, should step down.
Tant said that since she left, and Bittel took over in January, at least seven women — who are in their 20s and continued to work for the state’s party — have sought her to complain about Bittel’s inappropriate behavior toward them.
“These are young women who cannot trust their boss with their solitary presence,” Tant said. “They need other eyes to keep them safe while they work? It’s unacceptable.”
Female staffers have complained about Bittel belittling them in front of male lobbyists and elected officials, and Tant said she is “infuriated” that accomplished, smart women who believe in the value of the Democratic party are being treated in a “demeaning” and “objectifying manner” by their leader.
“When I left I told him, please, be good to these people, we had just taken a tough loss and it was demoralizing,” Tant said. “He gets there and the war starts happening. It’s been hard for me to see this.”
Since POLITICO Florida reported late Thursday that six former state party staffers and consultants complained about Bittel creating a hostile work environment toward women — that included making suggestive remarks and having a breast-shaped stress squeeze-ball at his work desk — Bittel has apologized. He did not deny the women’s accounts.
“I’m infuriated that the story is: he’s not a predator and it’s OK to apologize. It’s not,” Tant said.
In the wake of the reports, all four Democrats running for governor — Gwen Graham, Philip Levine, Andrew Gillum and Chris King — have asked Bittel to resign. Tant wants him to step down too. She says it is out of “moral necessity.”
“We cannot be the party to speak for the vulnerable and voiceless; demand equal work for women and stand up to women being sexually abused and let this roll,” Tant said.
UPDATE: On Friday morning, Bittel announced he is resigning following reports that he created a hostile work environment for women by “belittling” them in front of male staffers and making suggestive remarks.
One comment
Christopher M. Kennard
November 17, 2017 at 12:37 pm
Bill Clinton was allowed to act in such a fashion, why not this fellow, Bittel, who belongs to the same club of corrupt politicos as do the Clinton clan, along with their close friends the Bush Dynasty who shared coke dealing days when Bush sr. was acting Prez under the Alzheimer’s afflicted Reagan on through his own term in office, and later when Billy Clinton became Prez., he continued working on the same CIA project to destroy black inner city communities of people. Welcome to America. (Tag team elections set up to bounce the American people between the Democratic Party and Republican Party, who share the same “owners”.
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