Article content continued

The EEOC closed its investigation in 2005, saying that it was “unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes.” Though Ramsey was not charged directly in the lawsuit, she had been named in the complaint. It was settled by the company after mediation in 2006 and had begun to be discussed in political circles recently, The Star reported.

Without naming Funkhouser, Ramsey said that a man decided to bring a lawsuit against the company after she eliminated his position.

“He named me in the allegations, claiming I fired him because he refused to have sex with me,” she wrote. “That is a lie.”

She said she would have fought to clear her name had the suit been brought against her.

“I would have sued the disgruntled, vindictive employee for defamation,” she wrote. “Now, twelve years later this suit is being used to force me out of my race for Congress. Let me be clear: I never engaged in any of the alleged behavior. And the due process that I love, that drew me to the field of law, is totally denied.”

A woman who answered the number listed in court documents for Mr. Funkhouser said, “We have no comment.”

What is being called a national reckoning on sexual misconduct is unlikely to end any time soon. The political world has been shaken recently after U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., announced he would resign over misconduct allegations that surfaced in news reports. In the special senate race in Alabama on Tuesday, Democrat Doug Jones won in a shocking upset after accusations emerged that his opponent, Republican Roy Moore, had made sexual advances against teenage girls decades ago. And a group of women who have accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct dating to his time before the presidency continue to occupy news headlines.

The seat Ramsey was running for is one of some 23 congressional districts – roughly the number of seats it would take to shift the balance in Congress from Republican to Democrat – that voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election but are held by a Republican.

Ramsey, who said her campaign had been motivated by the Republican push to repeal the Affordable Care Act, had been endorsed by Emily’s List, a liberal women’s group that has been raising money for female candidates.