We’re old enough to remember when Kevin Corlew wasn’t such a champion of women’s workplace rights

In late February, on Facebook, Missouri Rep. Kevin Corlew officially, if belatedly, became a friend of the #MeToo movement.

“As our law currently stands, if a person has been sexually harassed or abused in the workplace, employers can require confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements when arbitrating,” he wrote in a post. “That’s why I filed [House Bill] 2552. Workplace policy must change to make sure that victims of sexual harassment can expose their harassers if they choose. No longer will perpetrators be able to hide under a cloak of secrecy.”

The bill represents smart politics on Corlew’s part. A Republican who represents a Northland district that includes parts of Kansas City, Riverside, and a few other smaller communities, Corlew is campaigning to win a special election for the Missouri Senate seat recently vacated by Ryan Silvey. It’s a district where Democrats hold a registration edge. And Corlew’s Democratic opponent, Lauren Arthur, has been speaking and voting on behalf of #MeToo since before it even became a movement.

That Corlew is trying to brand himself as an ally to women who are sexually harassed in the workplace is a deeply ironic twist, though. Corlew was for secrecy in workplace lawsuits — or at least neutral about it — long before he was against it.

As a matter of fact, arbitration has been a core Corlew issue from the time he was seated in the legislature in 2015. Responding to lobbying on the part of Hallmark Cards, Inc., the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, and some other business groups, Corlew has sponsored legislation every year that would make it harder for people with workplace grievances to take their cases to court. He wants arbitrators themselves, not courts, to decide if an employee’s workplace agreement binds the employee to arbitration.

Corlew, a lawyer, attempts to frame his legislation as a matter of fairness. 

“Given my background as an attorney, I’ve understood a lot of the issues surrounding the litigation environment here in Missouri, and I thought I’d work on some of those issues to make sure we have a fair court system for all individuals,” he tells The Pitch.

Arbitration isn’t necessarily fair, however. As Arthur points out in an op-ed published in The Kansas City Star, arbitrators are paid by the parties in a dispute “and because employers are recurring customers, arbitrators have financial incentive to favor those employers.”

Arthur also notes that arbitration agreements frequently bind both parties to confidentiality. “This means that [victims] cannot share their story with friends, family members, or support networks. Vitally, it also means that they cannot hold perpetrators of sexual abuse publicly accountable or warn co-workers.”

Corlew didn’t seem too worried about silencing the victims of sexual harassment when he sparred with Democratic Rep. Gina Mitten, a lawyer from St. Louis, during a committee hearing in the Capitol in late January. 

Mitten pointed out that many arbitration pacts, including those in sexual harassment allegations, contain confidentiality agreements. “Meaning the public is never, ever, ever aware of the sexual harassment claims that are made against employers. I personally have a problem with that,” she said.

“Well,” Corlew replied, “this bill does not deal with the public relations aspect of whether someone has a claim or not.”

“Are you implying that sexual harassment claims are public relations problems?” Mitten shot back.

“No, I’m not,” Corlew said. He clarified that his bill does not impose a gag order on any party in an arbitration proceeding. (But it doesn’t prohibit it, either.)

For a while, it looked like 2018 would be the year Corlew would achieve the feat that would endear him to corporations and business groups. (Which, as it happens, are enthusiastic contributors to state senatorial campaigns.) His bill cleared the committee process and was headed for a vote on the House floor.

Then came the brakes, pumped by an individual nobody expected. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley joined attorneys general from every other state in signing a letter asking Congress to outlaw arbitration in sexual harassment cases. 

Hawley’s signature put House Republicans in a tight spot. Corlew’s bill contained no carve-out for sexual harassment cases. And it wouldn’t look good for the caucus to take a vote that put legislators at odds with their party’s candidate for U.S. Senate in November. In fact, a lot of legislators decided this might be a good year to pass on the mandatory arbitration issue altogether.

That left Corlew twisting in the wind. He rallied by taking an amendment that Mitten had tried to attach to his original bill, and using it to sponsor new legislation banning confidentiality agreements in sexual harassment arbitration.

Corlew tells The Pitch his thinking had evolved as his bill was debated in committee and news headlines served up daily helpings of the harassment that takes place in workplace settings. 

“It really had been brought to light over the last six months or so, with the claims against prominent men in business and sports and things like that,” Corlew says. “I think that really has shone a light on a need for these kinds of protections.”

Arthur sees her opponent’s change of heart differently.

“He tried to co-opt the criticism and make it his idea,” she says. “And now he’s actively promoting his bill.”

The arbitration dustup is a prelude for what is certain to be a hotly contested special election for Missouri Senate District 17 in Clay County, scheduled for June 5. The seat became vacant after Governor Eric Greitens nominated its most recent occupant, Ryan Silvey, for a well-paying seat on the state’s Public Service Commission. Silvey, a centrist Republican with a habit of thinking for himself, had become a headache for GOP leaders, and the job offer got him out of the way.

Silvey had won election twice in the Democratic-leaning district, where 57 percent of voters chose Jason Kander over Roy Blunt in 2016. But neither of Silvey’s opponents could claim Arthur’s credentials or star power. Arthur, elected in 2014, is a former teacher who now is regional director for a leadership program. She is admired in her district and in the legislature for her hard work and ability to distill issues.

Corlew has been a go-getter as well. After losing a House race to Democrat Jon Carpenter in 2012, he won a spot on the board of education of the North Kansas City School District. He ran in a different legislative district in 2014 and won.

Corlew notes that his legislative district also has a Democratic voting edge. He generally follows Silvey’s playbook in veering from the GOP party line on a few key issues. He didn’t support the legislature’s ultimately successful attempt to undermine collective bargaining with its so-called right to work agreement, for instance. Like Arthur, Corlew has called for Greitens to resign as the governor deals with a scandal involving an affair with his hair stylist.

Arthur says she expects Corlew to outmatch her in fundraising, as competitive Republicans usually do in Missouri races. But Democrats — and women — are fired up for this year’s elections. Since her first term, Arthur has spoken out against the sexual harassment and bad behavior that is baked into the culture of the Missouri legislature. She vigorously protested legislation last year that makes it harder for employees to prove discrimination cases against former employers. Corlew was outspoken in support.

All of which is to say, if Corlew hopes to make support of women and workers a plank of his campaign, he’s going to need more than a hastily assembled piece of legislation and a Facebook post.