Boys Could Have 'Fun With You,' Michigan Legislator Tells Reporter

“Sexual harassment has no place in the Michigan Senate,” the majority leader, Mike Shirkey, a Republican, and the minority leader, Jim Ananich, a Democrat, wrote in a letter Wednesday. “We take these allegations seriously and trust that you will take appropriate action to resolve this matter.”

The reporter, Allison Donahue, 22, who covers the Capitol for Michigan Advance, wrote that Tuesday she was waiting outside the Senate chamber to ask Lucido about a report that he was a member of a “violent” Facebook group opposing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.

“What was meant to be an opportunity for Lucido to respond to the report, turned into him making comments that objectified and humiliated me in front of a group of young boys,” Donahue wrote.

She said that after the chamber cleared out, a group of boys from Lucido’s alma mater, De La Salle Collegiate, an all boys’ Catholic high school in Warren, Michigan, stood in front of the doors. After Donahue asked the senator about the story, he replied that he would “catch up” with her after attending to the students.

“As I turned to walk away, he asked, ‘You’ve heard of De La Salle, right?’ I told him I hadn’t. ‘It’s an all boys’ school,’ he told me,” Donahue wrote.

Then, she said, Lucido told her: “You should hang around! You could have a lot of fun with these boys, or they could have a lot of fun with you.”

She said the teenagers burst into laughter, writing that “I walked away knowing that I had been the punch line of their ‘locker room’ talk.”

After Donahue published her account Wednesday, Lucido first said his comments were “blown out of proportion,” but later posted a message on Twitter: “I apologize for the misunderstanding yesterday and for offending Allison Donahue.”

But he has not reached out to her personally, Donahue said in an interview Thursday.

“I have been asked a few times, do I want a better apology, and I think my biggest takeaway from this is, I have already called him out once about how to talk to women,” she said. “I should not have to tell him how to fix the situation.”

Nathan Maus, the principal of De La Salle Collegiate, released a statement saying the comments “do not represent De La Salle nor the values and conduct we instill in our young men.”

“We are very sorry the reporter was put in this position and we have met with the boys who were on the tour to discuss the improper nature of this situation,” Maus said.

The senator’s remarks generated criticism from some members of the Legislature, and led the Senate leaders to ask for an investigation.

Ananich, the minority leader, said in an interview Thursday that once such a request is made, the Senate Business Office can begin its investigation. Punishments in such cases can range from sensitivity training to removal from chairmanships, he said.

“The point of the letter was, this is a serious allegation and it should not be treated as an off-color comment,” he said. “It was an inappropriate comment made at work.”

Jordan Hankwitz, the director of the Senate Business Office, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Thursday.

Earlier Wednesday, Lucido told The Detroit Free Press he felt that he did not owe Donahue an apology. He said he was “not talking about anything sexual,” but was “geeked up about the boys coming there,” and “was there to have some fun,” according to The Free Press.

“It was blown out of proportion,” he added.

Lucido also told local television station WDIV that Donahue’s quote was “not accurate.”

“I said, ‘We’re going on the floor to have some fun. You’re welcome to join us.’ This thing about what she interpreted, sexually or otherwise, it’s unfortunate,” Lucido said. “It really is. Truly unfortunate.”

Lucido did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

De La Salle Collegiate used the episode as a “teaching moment” and held a meeting with the 20 students who had visited the chamber that day, said Bill Roose, a school spokesman.

He said the students, who were juniors and seniors in the AP government class, had not all heard the senator’s remarks.

“The boys who heard any type of exchange heard the part about when the senator was asking about De La Salle, and they started laughing then,” Roose said. “He went into the inappropriate comment, and it turned into awkward laughter. They did not know what to do.”

The school has invited Donahue to address students at an anti-bullying and conflict resolution event it is hosting at the end of the month. Donahue said Thursday she has not decided if she would attend.

Donahue wrote that she later confronted Lucido about the comment and he “assured me it was nothing personal and this is just how he talks to young women.”

She quoted him as saying: “I said it to an all girls’ school last week, ‘How would you like to have all the boys from the Senate come over?’ It was nothing disingenuous. It was no harm.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .

Boys Could Have 'Fun With You,' Michigan Legislator Tells Reporter

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