Former Staffer Sued Family Research Council For Sexual Harassment

According to just-revealed court documents, the Family Research Council fired its abstinence program director after she filed a sexual harassment complaint with Washington DC's Human Rights Commission. DC Gadfly has the scoop:

Moira Gaul had a stellar career at the Family Research Council and amassed a perfect employment record until her run-in with her supervisor, a prominent figure in the anti-abortion movement.  She was hired in March 2005 as an abstinence coordinator and later promoted to Director of Women’s and Reproductive Health, where she focused on abstinence education but was also quoted widely in the media on the controversy over the HPV vaccination for young girls and abortion.

According to Gaul, the harassment started in February 2007. With the behavior ongoing, she finally filed a gender discrimination complaint--you can’t file for sexual harassment--with the District of Columbia Human Rights Commission in January 2009.  In that complaint Gaul says that the Family Research Council’s Director of the Center for Human Life and Bioethics “pressured me to attend parties” sent mails addressed “hi cutie” and “referred to the use of birth control pills by young women as ‘whoring around.’” In general, “his attitude towards me and other women was rude, belittling and at times angry.”

Gaul's sexual harassment claimed was dismissed in 2009 and now she is suing for their alleged retaliation by firing her. It's a complicated case and I recommend reading the linked item.