She said, he said in race for prosecuting attorney

An employee of the Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney's office claims that a deputy prosecutor in the office sexually harassed her, while the deputy prosecutor--also a candidate for Prosecuting Attorney--denies the charge.

Erin Gray, an administrative assistant in the Prosecuting Attorney's office, submitted to The Enterprise and The Goldendale Sentinel a letter to the editor saying that Dave Brown, a deputy prosecuting attorney, had been investigated for sexual harassment. Given the nature of the letter's content, The Sentinel chose to contact both Gray and Brown rather than run the letter alone. Reached for comment, Brown stated, "I have never sexually harassed anyone."

Gray's letter read, "I want the public to be aware that while Dave Brown worked in the Prosecuting Attorney's office as a deputy prosecuting attorney, he was investigated for sexual harassment against me." Gray wrote that she turned Brown in more than a year ago for inappropriate behavior toward her, and she added in the letter that "there were at least two others who reported him for his behavior. He was talked to and then again around March [of this year], I turned him in again. He was investigated for sexual harassment through the county personnel department. I was told by the personnel department that Dave Brown would be reprimanded, but that they could not inform me of what that would be. Mr. Brown was not fired, but he has resigned."

Contacted regarding the matter, prosecuting Attorney Tim O'Neill said he was unable to comment on it.

Brown said that as a deputy prosecuting attorney, "I'm a legal counsel for the county, and in that capacity I can't comment on it." He did add, however, that he never sexually harassed anyone and said, "I've never been reprimanded for sexual harassment.

In addition to his refutation of Gray's comments, Brown said, "My concerns about the prosecuting attorney's office led me to realize that I can't work in that office climate."

Brown's last day in the Prosecuting Attorney's office was Wednesday, July 14. He is a current candidate for the office of Prosecuting Attorney. Brown said his departure from the office primarily is to avoid a potential conflict with the Hatch Act, which prohibits a public employee whose salary is paid in part by federal funds from running partisan office; Brown's situation falls into that definition.

In an interview Tuesday, Gray said, "I have papers indicating that 'personal action' was taken against Dave Brown for 'inappropriate behavior,'" qualifying her remarks in her letter that Brown was to be reprimanded for sexual harassment.

"But the matter I brought to the personnel department was sexual harassment," she said. "He's very intimidating. I'm doing this because I feel people need to be aware of who he is. His behavior has affected my life, my home and my work."