Ramsey, a 56-year-old retired business executive from Leawood, Kansas was one of the Democratic candidates vying to challenge Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder in 2018 in Kansas’ 3rd District.
Ramsey, 56, was not named as a defendant in the suit but was mentioned in it several times. ans Friday she issued a statement: ‘I never engaged in any of the alleged behavior.’
The suit was settled in 2006, though Ramsey said she was unaware of that and would have opposed settling had she known, the paper reported.
“In its rush to claim the high ground in our roiling national conversation about harassment, the Democratic Party has implemented a zero tolerance standard,” Ramsey said in a statement Friday.
“For me, that means a vindictive, terminated employee’s false allegations are enough for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to decide not to support our promising campaign. We are in a national moment where rough justice stands in place of careful analysis, nuance and due process.”
In the EEOC complaint, which alleged sex discrimination and retaliation by LabOne, Funkhouser accused Ramsey of subjecting him to “unwelcome and inappropriate sexual comments and innuendos” beginning in September 2004, when he was a LabOne human resources manager.
The petitioner claims that in late March 2005, Ramsey made sexual advances toward him on a business trip, Funkhouser alleged in the complaint.
“After I told her I was not interested in having a sexual relationship with her, she stopped talking to me,” he wrote. “In the office she completely ignored me and avoided having any contact with me.”
Ramsey then moved the petitioner out of his office into a cubicle far from her office. Whereas before he rejected her advances, Ramsey “repeatedly told me she heard great things from others about my performance,” Funkhouser stated, “After I rejected her, she told me she now was hearing bad things about my performance and on June 13, 2005, terminated my employment.”
The EEOC closed its file on Funkhouser’s charges of discrimination and retaliation in October 2005, noting that an investigation was unable to conclude whether any statutes had been violated.
The document did not certify that LabOne was in compliance with employment law, however, and informed Funkhouser that he had a right to sue the company.
Funkhouser then sued LabOne in federal court.
LabOne denied the allegations and said Funkhouser’s termination was “non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory.”
At the landmine interview with The Kansas City Star Ramsey said she made the decision to eliminate Funkhouser’s job in conjunction with LabOne management.
“It became clear to me that he wasn’t managing his subordinates adequately,” she said. “… He didn’t have open lines of communication with his subordinates and furthermore there was this additional layer of management.”
Ina second interview the congressional candidate said she has no memory of the business trip, noting that 12 years had passed.
The lawsuit was still pending in April 2006 when Ramsey retired from LabOne.
Ramsey was running with the endorsement of women’s right group Emily’s List. Friday, Emily’s List announced that the group supported Ramsey’s decision to drop out of the race and wished her well.
Funkhouser reportedly said of the case: “All I can say is the matter has been resolved,” he said.