California state Senate orders politician Bob Hertzberg to stop hugging people

Investigation finds that Hertzberg did not know hugs were inappropriate, and he stopped when told to

Senator Bob Hertzberg, seen here hugging a female Senator in Sacramento, was told to stop initiating hugs (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

A California state senator known for embracing colleagues has been reprimanded and warned to stop hugging people.

State Senator Bob Hertzberg’s proclivity for hugs was widely known enough to earn him the nickname “Huggy Bear” in Sacramento, the state capital. The Los Angeles Democrat had formerly served as the powerful speaker of the Assembly before winning a state Senate seat in 2014.

But the embraces came under scrutiny as a national outcry against sexual misconduct echoed through California politics, and the senate rules committee launched an investigation into complaints that Mr Hertzberg had given female colleagues unwanted hugs.

The panel did not find evidence to support a former assemblywoman’s member’s contention that Mr Hertzberg had given her multiple unwanted hugs or continued doing so after she asked him to stop. It concluded that, in hugging another Assemblywoman and a Senator, he either did not know the hugs were unwelcome or did not offer another hug after being told to stop. It said Mr Hertzberg's motives were “not sexual in nature” and that he had not been given “sufficient details” about prior complaints.

Nevertheless, the committee ordered Mr Hertzberg to stop giving hugs and warned him that continuing to do so could incur harsher punishment.

“You are now on on notice that your behaviour has been unwelcome”, a letter from the Rules Committee said. “The rules committee also instructs you not to initiate hugs”.

Other California legislators have lost their jobs amid sexual misconduct accusations, part of a national reckoning that has toppled figures in politics, finance and entertainment.

While Mr Hertzberg emerged with only a reprimand, the investigation illuminates how the #MeToo movement could herald a broad rethinking of what constitutes harassment in the workplace. The Senate’s letter sought to lay down the boundaries of consent for a senator who it said made a “practice” of hugging others.

“You cannot solve the problem by asking someone if a hug his unwelcome or welcome because a person may not feel comfortable telling you it is unwelcome”, the letter said.

Mr Hertzberg said in a statement that the committee vindicated him by rejecting the former assemblywoman’s claim but apologised in a letter distributed to other state senators “to anyone who fell my hugs were unwelcome”.

“All my life, a hug has been my way of greeting friends and colleagues - a gesture of warmth and kindness and a reflection of my exuberance,” the letter said. “I understand that I cannot control how a hug is received, and that not everyone has the ability to speak up about unwelcome behaviour. It is my responsibility to be mindful of this”.