An incident recently made public involving a DFL Minnesota Senate staffer who, nearly a year ago, accused a fellow staffer of persistent sexual harassment and unwanted sexual advances, is a matter that is overdue for serious scrutiny — and not just of Senate employment policies.

Cynthia Callais shared her story — and corroborating e-mails and texts — with the Minnesota Reformer's Ricardo Lopez, who broke the story. It involved the half-brother of another senator, DFLer Jason Isaacson of Shoreview. Employed by the caucus, the brother also managed the most recent election campaign of Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent.

According to the Reformer story, Callais alleged that Clay Schwartzwalter made unwanted sexual advances toward her starting in November 2019 until last August. Callais for a time reported directly to Isaacson. Callais said she filed formal complaints with both the Senate and the DFL Party. She said on Twitter recently that "11 months ago I turned to DFL leaders to protect me in the workplace. Instead I was told to find another job."

Schwartzwalter resigned his campaign post after her complaint to the party. But he was allowed to take another staff position in the House. Callais has said she believed he was being protected by family and political connections. Other legislative staffers signed letters in support of Callais. Schwartzwalter has called Callais' accusations "gross mischaracterizations."

Kent now is facing allegations that she failed to properly address the allegations involving her former campaign manager and caucus employee. Sen. Melissa Franzen, DFL-Edina, the first to call for an outside investigation, resigned her leadership post last week, saying that she was told earlier "not to chime in" and to follow Kent's lead. "Certain leaders had plenty of knowledge to pursue a proper investigation," Franzen said on Twitter, noting that she would no longer serve in leadership where the Senate minority leader "allows for actions like this to fester in the name of 'Senate policy.' "

Secretary of the Senate Cal Ludeman said Thursday that the outside investigation will proceed. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and other Republican leaders on Thursday said in a statement that they supported "an independent investigation into the claims made by a former staffer to determine whether Senate policy was followed, whether individuals in power took responsible actions to stop harassment, and what changes may be necessary to ensure this does not happen again."

Any credible investigation should be broad enough to look at both policies and practices in the Senate, as well as whether the actions of Senate leaders followed those policies.

The Legislature has a long and sorry history involving sexual harassment. It resulted in an earlier overhaul of policies. In 2017, after accusing a male lawmaker of harassment, state Rep. Erin Maye Quade told reporters the problem went beyond any one person. "This is a culture that just is very pervasive here in the Legislature," she said at the time. "It's whole behaviors that need to change by a lot of people."

In a recent statement, Sen. Kari Dziedzic noted that the Senate adopted updated policies in 2019, with clarifications this year. "I hoped the changes would improve the process," she said in the statement. "Unfortunately that did not happen … the process and the policy did not work for Ms. Callais. That is not acceptable."

It's time once and for all to create a safe, harassment-free workplace for those who spend long hours in close proximity to one another in often intense situations at the State Capitol.