At a Milwaukee press conference on Wednesday, state Senator Lena Taylor reiterated her statements that “a disgruntled employee” at her Capitol office failed to perform the job. “I do not apologize for being someone who demands the work get done in my office,” the Milwaukee Democrat said.
Taylor has been ordered to receive training in anti-harassment policies, and coaching in communication and management, after a former employee in her Capitol office reached a settlement on accusations of retaliation and bullying by the lawmaker, who was first elected to the Senate in 2004.
Earlier this week Taylor was stripped of her seat on the legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee. “I’m saddened by the rush to judgment,” Taylor said.
Taylor also countered accusations that she used a racial slur in an argument with a Milwaukee bank teller last month, in which she was cited for disorderly conduct. “I still do not believe that what I said constitutes a disorderly conduct, nor that it was a racial slur,” she said. “I didn’t say the n-word. It probably sounded like the n-word, right?”
Taylor was joined at the press conference by a group of about 20 supporters, and said she has no intention to step aside. “I ain’t going,” she said.