Woman claims Nebraska Legislature neglected her accusations against state senator

State Senator Dan McKeon resigned from the state's Legislature in January, moments before his colleagues were to debate expelling him over accusations he groped and harassed a Legislature employee.LINCOLN, Neb. (CN) — An anonymous woman who claims a Nebraska state senator pawed her at a post-session party last year sued the state and its Legislature, claiming neither took appropriate action as Senator Dan McKeon of Amherst, Nebraska, retaliated against her.McKeon resigned from the state’s unicameral legislature this past January, moments before his colleagues were about begin debate expelling him from the body over the incident.Prosecutors charged McKeon, a Republican first elected to the Legislature in 2024, with disturbing the peace and he entered a diversion program this past March.“Defendants had knowledge of McKeon’s alleged sexually inappropriate workplace antics prior to the May 29, 2025, incident involving the plaintiff but failed to take timely action to remedy such conduct,” the woman, who was an employee of the Legislature at the time, writes in her suit. “The defendants’ failure to timely report and act violated the workplace harassment policy.”She accuses the Legislature of discriminatory and retaliatory acts in violation of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.She claims McKeon started to regularly visit the office where she worked, and would tell inappropriate and sexually charged jokes to her coworker loud enough for her to hear. She said he also touched her buttocks at one point.After she made an informal complaint to the Legislature’s Executive Board on June 1, it told McKeon to have no more contact with her while it investigated.Despite this, the new senator attended a staff party the next day, where she says McKeon sat directly facing her, and when she moved to avoid him, he positioned himself to sit facing her — behavior she called in her suit “threatening, harassing, intimidating and retaliatory.”One day after McKeon submitted an apology she says was “disingenuous,” she filed a formal complaint on July 29.In August, he reportedly texted her coworker and falsely insinuated that she was difficult to work with. She reported the matter to the Nebraska State Patrol, which cited McKeon.Despite the special personnel panel instructions for him to not communicate with or about the plaintiff, he continued to communicate with legislative and state employees about her, she claims.She says McKeon and his attorney “made numerous false accusations and defamatory statements about the plaintiff, both in the media and privately. This conduct was egregious and retaliatory.”The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and the woman’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.Perry Pirsch, the attorney who represented McKeon in his criminal case, asked Courthouse News for clarification about what the complaint said about McKeon, but did not immediately respond to further inquiries.The former senator’s disturbing the peace charge was to be dismissed if he successfully completed the diversion program. There was no longer record of the case in the state online court’s docket Wednesday afternoon.McKeon denied the accusations and initially pleaded no contest to the charge before changing his plea to not guilty. After McKeon resigned, Governor Jim Pillen appointed former State Senator Fred Meyer to fill the seat.Candidates Jeremy Heneger and Joe Johnson are vying for the seat representing District 41, a swath of rural farms, ranches, and small towns in central Nebraska.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads