When The Denver Post wrote a hit piece on well-regarded Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert, the journalist seemingly had half of a story and tried to vilify Staiert for helping friends with pro-bono legal work. It just so happened some of her legal work included defending a friend from over-zealous litigation by the City of Littleton, her former employer. Staiert defended her position in the original article:
There is no conflict of interest, she said, and no vendetta against her former employer. Staiert was fired Sept. 20, 2011, the same day she filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Littleton municipal court Judge James Anderson.
It was clear that the story had an angle. Then, Staiert fired back a stinging op-ed titled “Why women are afraid to fight harassment” explaining the sexual harassment she suffered while working for the City of Littleton. Here’s an excerpt:
The Denver Post’s article vividly demonstrates why so many women are unwilling to stand up and fight sexual harassment and unequal treatment. The reporter twisted a history of sexual harassment into a story of female vengeance.
The Post insinuated that I should not represent people in the city of Littleton because it fired me. Never mind that one of the Colorado Bar Association’s ethics experts deemed the story “rubbish.”
We thought perhaps once the newspaper understood the mistake it made regarding Staiert’s situation, it would retract its story. Or perhaps even correct it. We reached out to Greg Moore, editor of the newspaper, and asked whether the newspaper would like to issue a statement, correct its story, or apologize to Staiert. We sent the email nearly a week ago (we figured he’s busy guy). We’ve heard nothing. The story hasn’t been corrected. No apology has been issued to Staiert, to our knowledge.
Perhaps even worse, where are women on this issue? The right was appalled, but where is Laura Chapin, the left’s general in the War on Women mantra, when a woman is mistreated? If Chapin’s bloviating was truly about caring for women, and not just a way to use women to score cheap political points, she would have been all over this. The same goes for any liberal who pushes uses the war on women verbiage.
Outrageous. Sometimes you just have to stand up to a gang of thugs all by your lonesome. I'm proud Suzanne is putting them in their place.
Yep, your an attorney Jeff AKA professional liar.
Some of us are on your side Suzanne. Don't let the B*****d's get you down!
Where are the feminists? Same place they were during the Clinton administration. That was the decade when their silence caused them to lose any ounce of credibility they had left.
I don't see how the original article "vilifies" anyone.
Bingo
Thanks for the effort, but I won't hold my breath!