State Lawmaker Under Investigation After Sexual Harassment Allegation

State lawmakers will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday to investigate whether one of their own sexually harassed a staffer.  

Now, News 9 is learning another state lawmaker is accused of doing the same thing.  

State Rep. Dan Kirby, R-Tulsa, sent shock waves through the state Capitol when he resigned after a settlement came to light in a sexual harassment case. A staffer who accused Kirby of sexual harassment got a $44,000 taxpayer-funded payout. Then, few days after Kirby stepped down he rescinded his resignation.  

Now we are finding out another state lawmaker is accused of sexually harassing a staffer.  

The head of a special committee to look into the allegations confirmed Tuesday the committee is also looking at Rep. Will Fourkiller, a Democrat from Stilwell.  

The committee chair wouldn't say exactly what Fourkiller is accused of doing, other than there has been a formal sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a staffer. News 9 does not know when the allegation was made.  

"That will come out in the investigation,” said Rep. Josh Cockroft, R-Wanette. “Obviously, Representative Fourkiller has been in office since 2010 and he and I came in in the same class together, but all of that information will come out in the investigation."

Fourkiller did not respond to News 9's request for a comment, but did release a statement saying, “I haven’t a clue what this is about. I am at a loss. I have called and texted Speaker McCall about this but he has not responded yet. This has floored me. I wish that at the very least I had been notified before Representative Cockroft issued his statement. I am certainly willing to work with the committee, after I have been told what I’m suspected of having done.”

Starting Wednesday, the committee will look into whether Fourkiller and Kirby did anything wrong.

Kirby has not responded to requests for an interview, but he did tell the full state House of Representatives that the allegations are false.

“First of all, I want to say publicly and I should have done this from the very beginning, I’ve done nothing wrong,” Kirby told lawmakers this month.

The committee will also determine whether former House Speaker Jeff Hickman had the authority to pay the staffer who accused Kirby of wrong-doing a $44,000 settlement.  

The committee is meeting behind closed doors, but will release its findings publicly.

"Our entire hope in this is that we get this out of the way,” Cockroft said. “That the integrity of the whole house is upheld. That accountability of the members is upheld.  And that the people of this state know that we're serious about the business of the state but we're also serious about holding our elected officials accountable."

The committee doesn’t have any disciplinary powers, but it will make recommendations to the full state House of Representatives. Those recommendations could range anywhere from doing nothing to unseating lawmakers.