The Oklahoma City law firm hired to conduct an investigation into sexual claims against Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett says what he said and did at a 2023 party did not constitute sexual harassment.
It’s the conclusion of a five-month probe by Melvin Hall, an attorney with the Riggs Abney law firm of Oklahoma City hired last August by the Corporation Commission. In his report, Hall called Hiett’s comments “isolated.” He provided the report to Brandy Wreath, the general administrator of the agency.
“After carefully reviewing the above-referenced information and restricting my analysis to the scope of the investigation, it is my determination that the overwhelming majority of the information voluntarily submitted was not relevant to the nature and scope of the investigation,” wrote Hall in his report. He further said his investigation focused on the statement made by Hiett to a woman at the party, “How are me and you going to do this?”
Not only did Hall call the June 21, 2023 incident “isolated” but concluded it was “not sufficiently egregious to amount to discriminatory changes in the terms and conditions of employment.”
He also concluded that what Hiett said at the party to a female employee of the Commission “does not rise to the level of creating a hostile work environment.”
However, Hall’s investigation did not cover the June 2024 incident where Hiett was seen groping a man at a bar during a national convention in Minnesota. The victim, who did not file a police report, is reported to be an employee of a major Oklahoma utility and has made appearances before the Corporation Commimssion.
“I will just let the report speak for itself,” was the comment from Commissioner Hiett in response to an inquiry from NonDoc, the state capitol-based group that reported the findings.
The incident that occurred in 2023 at an opening party for a new law firm was among allegations of public drunkenness and sexual abuse by Hiett. He was also accused of publicly groping a man at a bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The incidents led to calls for his resignation from the Corporation Commission, which Hiett refused to do.
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