It’s official. Everyone who was involved in a 15-year-old sexual harassment lawsuit against Paul Morrison has said there was no settlement to end it. Morrison said that. So did his attorney. So did the woman’s attorney. And now, so does the woman. In an interview with a Kansas City, Mo., TV station, Kelly Summerlin said there was no settlement, either monetary or nonmonetary.
So now, all those in the Kline camp are left with is arguing that by claiming there was a settlement, they were just referring to the agreement to dismiss the case. Please. Next, they’ll start debating the definition of “is.”
Ironically, Kline’s claims and dirty campaign ad have shown why Morrison is the best candidate.
If a 15-year-old, unproven accusation is the best Kline can come up with to try to tarnish his opponent’s sterling reputation, Morrison must really be impressive. And if our state’s top attorney treats unsubstantiated allegations as if they had been proved true, it’s time for a better attorney.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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71 Comments
Guess Kline should have done an investigation of those accusations before he put them out there, huh.
You’d think as an attorney, he’d know how to get ahold of case records, but instead he is too worried about medical records.
Well said, Phillip!
Not much to add there, huh Steven?We could bring up his nepotism and the fact that this involves known lawbreakers who refuse to comply with the law. He should be voted out on that alone. Oh, yeah it was an honorable civil protest.So what.Abbey Hoffman and the Chicago Eight did HARD TIME for the same.
I think it’s time to raise the bounty on lawyers!!
They’re all over the place, running amok. It’s worse than urban blight or creeping socialism, or even Ian’s posts!!.
Oh come on gee–We’ll keep the blight AND the socialism, but…..Ian’s gotta go!!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm……..??
SO WHAT? WHO CARES? I DON’T NEED FACTS; JUST SOME GOOD GOSSIP! IF IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR RUSH IT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!!!!
“”I did not allow the (Phill) Kline campaign to use my case. The first I heard about it was when my husband saw it on TV. I knew nothing about it,” Kelly Summerlin told KMBC’s Micheal Mahoney.”
So, we see more invasion of privacy by Kline for his political benefit.
“Keyhole Kline : He’s everywhere, he’s everywhere!!”
Damn Ben.I hadn’t heard that.That really is a new low.
Especially for such an upstanding, ultra-religious, top law enforcement agent of a conservative die-hard state.(try saying that 10 times fast)
Since Kline used an actor in his ad maybe someone should do one with Kline and Foley. Doesn’t matter if its truthful or not – at least according to Kline!
A little photoshop, a voiceover …
Ah, I love watching Phillllllll Kline’s self-righteous sleaze machine in action. He da man!
It goes without saying, of course, that we’ll probably see a couple of more tricks from ‘ol Philthy Kline before the clock finally runs out.
That is, if he can tear himself away from continuing to root through the collective panty drawer belonging to the women targeted in his fishing expeditions.
I don’t know how long it takes to produce one of these ad gems, but it seems that the Kline crowd knew at some point in the past his campaign was tanking and they would go to this Plan B!!
Good plan, huh…..??
She might be REQUIRED, under terms of the settlement, to deny there was a settlement, under pain of losing whatever she got in the settlement.—-By the way, The Eagle has no credibility on legal issues.The Eagle still won’t retract the false claim that Bryan Brown owes a $62,000.00 fine, even though the Supreme Court disagrees with the Eagle!
Keep spinning GOP shill Paul.
By the way, do you have a reference to your Supreme Court claim? Why has Kline not responded to that then? I would think he would have by now.
Because there was no settlement doesn’t mean there was no harrassment. The court transcript tells the truth of what was said. For any number of reasons this person might not have been able to find a lawyer to take the case because of who it was against. In the abortion debate men are not allowed to comment because ‘they can’t get pregnant.’ By the same token men should stay out of this argument because they don’t know what it is to be sexually harrassed by a powerful man who just happens to be your boss. This speaks to the character of Morrisson. He is a sleaze. Phillip is showing his prejudice.
The court transcript only “tells the truth” about what was claimed. We have absolutely zero knowledge as to what was or was not said that night. Trying to prove innocence is usually impossible. No credible evidence has been presented to support that allegation.
ksgrm is correct. Paul is a sleaze. I saw his true character many years ago. He is not a nice man.
Garth Mc Ginn TV ads won’t be seen in Wichita – the tv ads on his web page are going to the surrounding counties — reminiscent of the Glickman ads of the 70’s / 80’s — no mud slinging — take a look and forward to your Wichita friends who will be voting.
http://www.daretwocare.us/press.html
Ben,The WE did a fine job of explaning the $61k long dead judgment. It is also posted elsewhere on this blog. Now, why don’t you come clean on your previous libel and slander of Mr. Brown? You asked an apology of him….I think you actually owe him one in this venue, with explanation, don’t you?
Yes I do. First, I have only heard about the $61K from this blog and the ads so do not know whether the Supreme Court judgments covered that or not. Pretty much third-hand. Therefore I have left those as questions.
On the other item that had to do with the Godarchy Line and its attack on me in 1994. It turns out that this occurred after Brown had turned over the reins of his creation to someone esle. Therefore the identity of the eprson behind that attack is unknown. Bryan had ‘moved on’ by that time to Virginia Beach and was making good grades in school there. Therefore my charge against Brown was incorrect and is retracted with an apology. I would love to know just who was left in charge of the Godarchy Line in 1994 and was behind that attack.
In other words, my charge against Bryan Brown was in error. The person who attacked me was one of his successors, not him.
(greatgrandson? lots of generations there! ;>))
Isn’t that the purpose of a Non Disclosure Agreement is that you can’t disclose whether there was an agreement or not? And if you do, there are grounds to be counter-sued to recover the funds of the NDA?
Which means someone could lie to anyone that is not an official of the court about whether they received a NDA.
Which would also mean, of course, that Morrison is banned from even defending himself from Kline’s ads.
I agree with what Brent Castillo said today:
BRENT CASTILLO: KLINE SHOULD FOCUS ON HIS OWN RECORDI like Republican Attorney General Phill Kline, but the past few weeks sure have been rough for him. It started with the leaked strategy memo that revealed some ulterior motives for Kline speaking at churches. Then former Attorney General Bob Stephan withdrew his support of Kline. Then another former Republican attorney general, Carla Stovall Steckline, endorsed Kline’s Democratic opponent, Paul Morrison.
Kline has chosen to fight back with a television ad that airs 15-year-old accusations of sexual harassment against Morrison by one of his former employees. The claim purports to offer legitimate insight into Morrison’s seemingly untarnished reputation. But there’s one big problem — the allegations were never proved true in court.
The case was dismissed at the request of the two parties. Kline claims it was settled, but Morrison, his attorney and the woman’s attorneys all deny that there was any settlement, and Kline has yet to produce any evidence of one.
Kline is intelligent, eager and capable. And he is by far the most engaging of the two candidates, which is a large part of his success.
But I don’t like his latest ad because the claim hasn’t been substantiated beyond the initial, unproven accusation. Maybe, as the ad says, there is more to come. If so, let’s see the evidence. And it needs to be solid.
I don’t blame Kline for being frustrated by all the negative publicity from statewide media while Morrison reaps mostly praise. But instead of lashing out, he should do more to tout his record.
Morrison has been a district attorney. Kline has been the attorney general. Morrison has won many prosecutions. Kline has won in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kline has also taken much flak for wanting abortion records of 90 women. He says he wants to investigate whether any laws were broken in regard to late-term abortions. His critics say he’s on a fishing expedition and falsely accuse him of wanting to know the identities of the women. Morrison has seemed to flip-flop on whether he would drop this investigation if he became attorney general.
It’s worth noting that abortion doctor George Tiller’s ProKanDo political action committee raised money to defeat Kline in Washington, D.C., on July 25, a day after the last campaign-finance reporting deadline. Morrison’s campaign has denied receiving money from the PAC.
Morrison hasn’t fought a clean fight either. He has run an ad attacking Kline’s hiring of Bryan Brown as the office’s consumer protection chief. It makes it seem as if Brown’s 12 arrests were for violent felonies, when in fact they were misdemeanors related to anti-abortion protests.
Politics can get dirtier the closer to Election Day. And voters deserve to know the flaws in each of the candidates. But most voters prefer to know why they should vote for a candidate, not why they shouldn’t vote for his opponent. Kline should start reminding Kansans why he deserves their vote.
——————————————————————————–
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/15851013.htm
**********************************
And this from a Kline supporter.
Personally, I’d like to see BOTH of them get back on topic.
well I’d agree with ksgrm that just because there was no settlement (and I’d add even in jury decided acquittals)that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
However, the only thing that was said that he found her attractive…there was nothing physical, he even apologized. If there were more to it, I’d have an issue. By the way, the grounds for sexual harrassment (and I know this because I just did a module on it at work) cannot be one simple statement. It either has to be vulgar OR it has to occur more than once after it has been told to stop. But to demonize this guy for saying this woman was attractive is ridiculous. This was not harrassment, and it makes me furious when people claim harrassment meritlessly when there are REAL victims who deserve to be believed and aren’t because of BS like this.
From a strictly political strategy viewpoint I think they are both running lousy campaigns. If I were advising them my advice would be much along the lines Castillo says above. Attack the other guy on what he does in office and tell us what you will do differently.
Here’s the question that nobody has answered.Is she attractive? Morrison said she was. Would you “hit it”?If she is, I might vote for him. If not, then he has bad judgment and shouldn’t be elected.
I love it, troll ksgrm comes on to second itself as troll ksldy.
Now, somebody explain why trolls are always conservative.
I guess for the same reason that Philll Kline runs these cheap shot attack ads.
The ends justify the means when you’re “always right.”
We spent a lot of time on sexual harassment in Employment Law and I agree with P-M. For me to compliment a woman because she is attractive is NOT harassment.
“Quid pro quo harassment occurs when job opportunities … are given in return for sexual favors.” There has not even been an allegation of that.
“According to the US Supreme Court, hostile-environment sexual harassment occurs when “the workplace is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, insult, ridicule, and insult, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment.” (Harris v Forklift, 510 US 17, 114 S Ct 367, 126 LEd2d, 295 (1993)
Taken from West’s Legal Environmant of Business
I don’t think any evidence has been presented to support such allegations.
“The ends justify the means when you’re ‘always right.’” Or desperate.
Once upon a time, there was an attorney general who wanted to be governor, and was falsely accused of sexual harrassment by an employee because he wouldn’t have anything do with her. He knows the cost, personal and financial, of a baseless, vicious claim.
Many years later, a man quit as a political advisor to Phill Kline and his campaign. Presumably, there was a severe difference of opinions regarding some major aspect of the Kline campaign.
The man in both stories is Bob Stephan — a man of utmost propriety and worthy of unqualified respect. Does anyone else see a connection here?
My guess is that Bob realized that Kline, whether a Republican or not, is simply a mean spirited dunce.
I think the Stephen departure was a watershed event, more so than Stovall. Stephen has always been a republican and has been well respected. If anything, I think he might have been viewed as a bit too conservative by some of us. His departure, in my opinion, really hurt Kline; perhaps even personally.
I have to really wonder. If you had asked me a month ago I would have wagered that Kline would win re-election. I wonder just when and why the wheels fell off his campaign?
On another race, why McGinn has simply never gained traction?
Now, if say Kline had a video of Morrison sneaking up behind the woman and giving her a neck massage, I’d say Kline had a case!
Ben, I would have joined you in that wager a month ago. I have been wondering also just what happened. Can’t recall, but was that about when the memo was leaked (the one about using church connections to raise money)?
steve – or even an audio tape of Morrison saying whatb the actor says in the ad.
In fairness to Morrison, he has talked about his record and accomplishments. When he compares himself to Kline, he focuses on what Kline has not done, e.g. argue a trial in front of a jury. Not one trial.
Because Kline is so experience-challenged, Morrison has been able to run a successful negative campaign. Such campaigns work and that is the primary reason why Kline’s campaign fell apart. Morrison would not let Kline’s false allegations go un-answered, even for a second. Morrison is naturally a confrontational kind of guy — which has been useful in his career, I am sure.
Kline has a great deal of charisma. If he is not elected in this race, I am sure he will run for other offices in the future. In fact, I am sure Kline will run for other offices regardless of the outcome of this contest.
Kline has charisma? Are we watching and listening to the same person?
Paul Rosell – Kline goes down big time on Nov.7…get used to it.
I just learned Kline has never tried a case before a jury. WHAT!!!Doesn’t that automatically disqualify him? the prick.The accuser comes out to say no settlement. Kline must be a complete idiot.
When this election doesn’t work out for Mr. Kline, and it’s not going to, I understand there’s a “compliance officer” opening in Park City that would seem to fit his personality and experience to a tee !
For those that are interested –The number of voters of the Unaffiliated party has just surpassed the number of voters of the Democratic party in the state of Kansas.
I saw that wiseman. I think the GOP % is down too. Being GOP is less of a free ride than it used to be in Kansas.
That said, I think both AG candidates have run a lousy campaign. It would definitely be interesting if there were a strong third-party candidate here.
“Kline has charisma?”
Yes, he definitely does. His problem is that he does not have much else.
Ben,
If Morrison is running a “lousy campaign” those recent poll numbers indicate that it is working for him.
You are correct Steven. My take is that Kline is running an even worse one!
An example: according to Paul the arrests resulted in dismissals. If that is true then Kline should have responded with the particulars; perhaps even turning it into a benefit. Civil disobedience as claimed by Paul. An arrest without a conviction is the same as an accusation without a judgement. I think Kline could have neutralized that quickly if he had done so. If the ‘fishing expedition’ was justified and produced results he should have trumpeted them. However I think he botched that in many ways. Was the $61K settled as indicated above? If so, come out with it.
Morrison too needs to come forward more in my opinion. Just what were those Sentencing Commission ‘recomendations’ anyway? Did he “push” the plan or were these simply discussions? According to Sebelius they were never ‘pushed’; I’d like to know the story.
I think Channel 12 has faulted BOTH Morrison and Kline for distortions; however Kline much more than Morrison.
If I were advising the campaigns it would be to forcefully answer the allegations; not simply to counter-claim. BOTH OF THEM.
Ben,I voted for Morrison today, I’ve given him money, and went to a reception he held here in Wichita last Tuesday. If elected, I think he will be a good AG. I don’t think the politics of any decision will be all that he considers – as Kline appears to do.
He hasn’t really said if he will halt the investigations on Tiller’s clinic. He also says he never got any money from Tiller or ProKanDo. (But, I don’t think that can be verified until after the election). Paul said at the reception they have managed to raise over $2 million — which is a record for any KS AG race.
Ousting Kline after ousting Connie Morris will make my year complete. And I think moderate republicans like raptor, would agree with that assessment.
This is going to be a close race.
I worry that democrats nationally are thinking they have already won back the House and the Senate. It is too early for victory laps. There is still hard work to be done.
Steve – on these we agree.
Steven and Ben … me three !
Can someone answer me this…if Kline obtained information on pregnancies as a result of abuse from these documents as he claims, why hasn’t Tiller been charged with a crime? Because it has LONG been in place that doctors and nurses and EMT’s HAVE to report SUSPECTED abuse.
And I would think that if Kline really did find that a doctor failed to report, that he’d be the first one to bring Tiller in for it.
Things that make you go hmmm.
It really doesn’t matter to me because I would never vote for Kline in the first place, but it DOES show what a sleaze-bag the guy is. I’m surprised he didn’t wait till a little closer to the election so there wouldn’t be time to negate the alligation.
Listen to WIBW’s Megan Interview Kelly Summerlin About Paul Morrison
“He game me a week to disappear”
The Kansas Press has not reported the whole story about Kelly Summerlin. Megan from the Megan & Raubin show at WIBW AM 580 in Topeka interviewed Kelly Summerlin today. That interview is now online. Click here http://www.raubinandmegan.com/blog/?p=40 for the MP3 links to listen to Kelly Summerlin in her own words. Did you hear any Kansas news source report what Kelly Summerlin said in this interview?
Please come and read my column. Please come and post on our Salia blog. I am sorry I have to come here and bother you. But no one reads me.
Kennedy had charisma. Clinton has charisma. Kline has a dirty mind.
Vote Ben Huie for whatever he runs for next time. I have been reading him since he incorrectly identified Brown as the Godarchy Line voiceover a few weeks ago and have been impressed with his analysis and perspectives.
And Ben, start your quest for answers by visiting a tort attorney with an office in East Borrough. He may hold the answers you seek. My alter ego truly does not.
Everyone reads you Meadowlark, but the thing is that nobody listens to you.
For all of you worried about women’s rights: Think about the biggest jerk you have ever known around women. Now go one step worse and that is Paul Morrison. There is nothing good there. Now if it is soooo important to you as a woman to support a candidate over one issue, be well aware what kind of total jerk you are replacing Kline with. Think about your vote and figure out if you are a simple one issue person or a voter that considers character. He was married the whole time I knew him and all I ever felt for that woman was total pity. My objection to him is based solely on his disgusting treatment of every woman around him. My objection to Kline is on one philosophical issue. Philosophy vs reality. I cannot vote for slease like Paul.
The Rethuglicans have to go back 15 years to find something to criticize Morrison about. I can go back 15 days to find something to criticize Kline about.
If Morrison hasn’t done anything wrong in 15 years then that’s a positive endorsement for Morrison from the Kline campaign.
Suck on it Republicans.
Thug. You hit it on the nail. Paul Morrison acts like a thug. That is not a 15 yr old malady that he has overcome. He is a thug. Don’t forget he was a Rethuglican as you call them a short time ago. Doesn’t matter what party he is running under, he is still a thug.
I AM for women’s rights. But this one thing I’m not buying it. Tell me something about him other than just your opinion, give me something to actually go on rather than just saying he’s scum. Give some examples.
In a professional environment he took action to prevent the women from participating in an event that he felt was “men only”. He not only tried to prevent it by opposing it publically and administratively but when he lost on that front, he acted like an ass when ALL the other men (who were a large majority) were accepting, civil, and fun. Paul’s actions were mean, directed, and contempuous. He at that time expressed that he was a “man’s man” whatever in the hell that means. My husband remembers the entire incident and remarked that he had never seen anyone so blatantly disgusting about needlessly excluding women and hasn’t seen anything like it since in the private or professional setting.
Phil’s not sexist. He says it’s ok for the boy, but the girl is breaking the law.
ksldy is PHILL KLINE!
Hi, Phill.
I’m gonna miss you, man.
Like I miss acne . . .
ksldy – here is why your claims will not work. Nobody is coming forward to substantiate them. All we have to look at is an old “allegation” of harassment. I suspect that every one of us here – men and women – have seen both unsubstantiated claims and real claims of such harassment in our own workplaces. We have also seen patterns: “this guy seems to always have problems with women not wanting to work for him.”
It would seem to me that if Morrison “action to prevent the women from participating in an event that he felt was “men only”" we would be hearing about it from more than one source. If “My husband remembers the entire incident” he needs to come forward. I have seen a lot of smoke; what I haven’t seen is any fire. Instead, it only looks like a smokescreen.
IF there is something there then come forward. Otherwise it continues to at least look like there is nothing there.
Gotta’ go with Ben this time. KSLDY seems to adhere to a theory of “indictment by allusion”. What the hell are you talking about ? It’s no wonder nobody pays any attention to you … you haven’t said anything ! Of course, the Kline AG’s office thrived on innuendo and half-truth.
Is it just a coincidence that the feds turned the Cheever case back to the state now that it looks like Kline and his minions won’t be around to screw it up ?
rm6046, if one is going to attribute political motives to the U.S. Attorney, I would submit the reason the Cheever case is being dismissed in Federal Court to be prosecuted in Kansas would be to remind the voters that Phill’s office, on rehearing after Justice O’Connor’s retirement and Justice Alito’s confirmation, obtained a reversal from the SCOTUS of the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision holding the Kansas Death Penalty unconstitutional. This allows the death penalty to be imposed by the Kansas courts, which negates the reason prosecution of the case was ceded to the U.S. Attorney to be filed in the U.S. District Court, i.e., to go for the death penalty.
Good point Vaughn. I think that Kline successfully defended the KS death penalty law in front of the SC.
“And I would think that if Kline really did find that a doctor failed to report, that he’d be the first one to bring Tiller in for it.”
Absolutely, political_mom. Failing to report child abuse would be the same as surrendering your license to practice. And while Tiller is probably rich enough to retire, I think he still wants to work. This whole Kline deal was a bunch of B.S.
If he opposed it publically there should be a record of it then. What was it? Surely there is a way that you can say what it is without giving yourself away. And why is your husband having to recall it instead of yourself?
Ben, my hypothesis is that he actually lost the first time; 5-4 preliminary vote to affirm the Kansas Supreme Court. Before opinion could be finalized and announced, Justice Alito was confirmed, allowing Justice O’Connor to retire. Revote was 4-4 tie, Alito not participating, as he had not heard the arguments. Rehearing ordered, on vote after rehearing, 5-4 to reverse, Justice Alito being the deciding vote.
Please note that the Kansas death penalty case was not the only one subject to rehearing after Justice O’Connor’s retirement; and that the procedure briefly set out above is how the Court handles theses cases, that is, all cases heard before a new Justice is confirmed. The ones with a 4-4 vote are reheard, to allow the new Justice to participate.
Dang it, I knew I hit the post button too quickly.
A famous case where the above procedure resulted in a different conclusion was Brown vs. Board of Education. The sitting Chief Justice at the time, whose name I don’t recall, retired or died, I forget which. Earl Warren was nominated and confirmed by Congress. He ordered a rehearing in the case (which, I have read was a 5-4 upholding Plessy v. Ferguson [separate but equal]), which occurred at the beginning of the next term of the Court. He then cajoled the members of the Court to make the opinion overruling Plessy unanimous.
Vaughn: I don’t believe I said anything about the U.S. Attorney’s office having political motives…just good sense.
rm, then I misread your post. Oh, well, it allowed me the forum to pontificate about the operations of the Supreme Court :).
“Impeach Earl Warren”
I remember seeing billboards with that after Brown v BOE. How times have changed.
As evidenced here in this blog, the Republicans will never admit to any real facts. The woman stated on television there was no settlement and both parties agreed to dismiss the suit.
But let’s not let the facts cramp your style and you go right ahead and push for Phill Kline. He is just a poster boy for Bush and company.