$167,500 settles Schedler harassment case

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Louisiana is paying $149,075 to end a sexual misconduct lawsuit against former Secretary of State Tom Schedler that was filed by one of his former employees, the Associated Press reports.

Schedler will personally pay $18,425 on top of the taxpayer-financed amount.

Lawyers representing the state and Schedler recently filed a joint motion to dismiss the case, informing the judge they had reached an agreement out of court. “All the parties have amicably resolved their differences,” the motion said.

A female employee who worked in the Secretary of State's office for more than a decade sued Schedler for sexual harassment last February.

The woman accused Schedler of making unwanted sexual advances, keeping watch over her home, and trailing her boyfriend's movements.

Prominent Baton Rouge Attorney Jill Craft represents the female employee who filed suit.

The woman claims she was retaliated against when she told Schedler she was not interested in his advances, Craft said at the time the lawsuit was filed.

She also claims Schedler also ordered Secretary of State security personnel to monitor the female employee’s whereabouts.

"The sense that I have from my client is that she had tried to handle what are clearly unwanted attention and affection from this man for years," Craft said last February. Schedler, who resigned from office after the scandal broke earlier this year, denied he sexually harassed the woman and claimed the two had a “consensual sexual relationship.”

“I leave the office with a heavy heart knowing I have disappointed the people in my life who care for me the most,” Schedler said in his resignation letter. "But I have also experienced from them the miraculous power of forgiveness and grace during the twilight of my career, and for that I am grateful.”

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