The North Carolina Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint against Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, brought by a former employee who accused him of sexual harassment, news outlets reported.
“After review and discussion as necessary, the Panel concluded its preliminary inquiry with a determination that the facts alleged in the complaint would not constitute a violation of the Ethics Act,” the Ethics Commission said in its finding, the Raleigh News & Observer reported this week.
The woman, April Taylor, had shown the newspaper a number of texts that she said came from Causey in recent years, and she provided the ethics ruling this week. Causey has been informed of the dismissal, Department of Insurance spokesman told the newspaper.
Taylor has said she also has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency.
Causey, 75, told the News & Observer this spring that he did not recall sending inappropriate texts and denied initiating inappropriate physical contact. Taylor showed the newspaper some screenshots of the texts, but Causey declined to let a reporter look at his phone, the N&O reported.
Taylor, 50, left the department earlier this year. She said she had developed issues with coworkers after she transferred to DOI’s bail bond division, and she said Causey had failed to support her in the role. She filed several complaints about the division and about Causey allegedly using state resources for campaign purposes, the newspaper reported.
The development caused equities and bonds to jump at the start of the week, while oil and natural gas prices — which soared with the strait’s closure — slumped.
US President Donald Trump, under pressure as rising fuel costs hit him and his Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November, hailed a “great deal that will bring peace and security to the whole region.”
He had pushed for it to be announced on Sunday, his 80th birthday. The agreement was already signed electronically by Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
