Nope, Jane Doe did not accuse Constantine of sexual harassment.Update: Jane Doe

Published 8:00 am Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Nope, Jane Doe did not accuse Constantine of sexual harassment.Update: Jane Doe sent a statement to the media last night, details below the jump.They still aren’t naming names. But King County Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey signed an order today overturning most of the previous restraining order sought by “Jane Doe” with regard to Seattle Times reporter Keith Ervin’s request for documents related to “any complaints alleging inappropriate comments or behavior by County Councilmember Dow Constantine toward any employee.” This afternoon, the King County Clerk’s office released a document [PDF] containing two pages of notes based on a conversation between a county employee responsible for handling complaints and Jane Doe on July 27 of this year. In summary, Jane Doe is a county staffer for someone else (all names but Constantine’s and his interim Chief of Staff Tom Bristow’s have been redacted). More than a year ago she was at a going away party for another staff member. Constantine was there and he “…bought her drinks and they shared food.” Jane Doe then says that later, Constantine told her she was attractive. But she adds that she doesn’t think the encounter would have gone any further.Then a few weeks later, Jane Doe told the interviewer that Constantine “commented that she looked good in a red–never seen her in a [sic] red before.”Jane Doe says she and Constantine talked about an analyst position she had applied for and failed to get during the going-away party. But the document’s unnamed author notes that Jane Doe “did not feel this impacted her regarding not getting analyst position.” Her fundamental complaint about Constantine is that his remarks seemed to cross a boundary and that she “wants to be respected for the work she does not how she looks.”Constantine still comes off as a bit of a cad, perhaps, but that’s not illegal, far as I know, and it seems there wasn’t any connection made between him possibly hitting on her and any threats or promises as to her job.Update:Jane Doe’s attorney Tyler Firkins sent out a press release last night titled: “Jane Doe expresses dismay at release of document, says Constantine incident blown out of proportion.”According to the release, Jane Doe had simply asked a supervisor for their take on the situation and county rules required the supervisor to report it to higher-ups. Firkins says publicizing the incident may discourage other people from “openly seeking advice and counsel in the future.””Dow and I have discussed this since it’s come out, and he expressed that he was sorry if anything in our conversation made me uncomfortable,” Jane Doe says. “I appreciate that we continue to be on good terms and expressed regret that the incident was made public and blown out of proportion.”