Dawn Ross, who was an assistant to Schedler but now works in the secretary of state’s office in a reduced role, filed a lawsuit in state court in February accusing him of engaging “in a pattern and practice of sexual harassment and retaliatory harassment” for nearly a decade. The accuser, Dawn Ross, said in her lawsuit filed in a Louisiana district court in February that Schedler began making inappropriate comments to her soon after he joined the department in 2007. But accusations of Schedler's misconduct returned to the forefront last week with the release of the sexually suggestive emails, which were sent on a state account and obtained by The Advocate. Edwards called that the “best course of action for Tom, his family and the state of Louisiana.”

Louisiana’s secretary of state is leaving his elected position as calls for his resignation have increased amid allegations that the state elections chief sexually harassed one of his employees.
Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler announces that he will resign in one week, after being accused of sexual harassment.