A series of sexual harassment complaints against a western Kentucky state representative is roiling the state legislature, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. One of three women who filed a complaint against Rep. John Arnold, a Democrat, said both the lawmaker and Legislative Research Commission director Robert Sherman should resign. The woman is Yolanda Costner, who works for the commission.
Costner and fellow LRC employees Cassaundra Cooper and Gloria Morgan have filed sexual harassment complaints against Arnold with the Legislative Ethics Commission. Costner and Cooper alleged in their Aug. 16 complaints that Arnold inappropriately touched them. Morgan’s complaint, filed later, said Arnold propositioned Morgan one night during the 2009 legislative session. Arnold, a retired chiropractor who was first elected in 1995, won re-election in 2012 by five votes. Arnold has declined to talk to reporters.