By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2006; B04
The public meeting had just begun yesterday morning when a 24-year-old woman delivered a mug of tea to Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer.
Schaefer (D) watched her walk away, appearing to stare at her backside, then motioned for her to come back.
"Walk again," he told the woman, an administrative aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).
She headed out, seemingly flustered, and later told other Ehrlich aides that she had been embarrassed.
The episode, at a state Board of Public Works meeting with more than 100 people in attendance, brought a rain of criticism from women's organizations and some lawmakers who learned about it. But the 84-year-old comptroller defended his behavior and berated reporters who asked whether he believed his actions were offensive.
"That's so goddamn dumb I can't believe it," said Schaefer, a former governor and mayor of Baltimore who is seeking reelection this year. "I look at one of the girls as she walked out. Big deal. . . . I look at the girls every time they walk out. The day I don't look at pretty girls, I die."
Schaefer then went into an adjoining governor's suite and soon returned, acknowledging that "the girl" had been embarrassed.
"A little girl walks out, and I make a joke out of it," he said, expressing dismay. "The one who is offended is me. . . . I can't believe you are making a deal out of that."
The woman declined requests for interviews through the governor's press office.
The biweekly meetings of the Board of Public Works -- a three-member panel that includes Ehrlich, Schaefer and state Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) --have frequently turned into rant sessions for the comptroller.
In recent years, he has provoked outrage by complaining about a Spanish-speaking McDonald's clerk and suggesting the creation of a public registry of people with AIDS.
After his comments yesterday, Sen. Sharon M. Grosfeld (D-Montgomery) called on Schaefer to publicly apologize to the aide and to "recognize the sexism inherent in his behavior."
"My heart goes out to that young woman, who I'm sure felt humiliated by the obviously sexist request and behavior on his part," Grosfeld said. "Even men from the comptroller's generation understand and appreciate the inappropriateness of the behavior and humiliation the young woman would feel."
Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families in Washington, said her reaction to Schaefer's behavior was "pretty simple."
"I would consider this grossly inappropriate," Ness said. "We have been working a long time to eliminate that kind of behavior from the workplace."
Ness and other experts on workplace issues said Schaefer's actions may have fallen short of the legal definition of sexual harassment, which typically requires actions to be severe and pervasive and affect one's employment.
But "the threshold to violate reasonable employer rules is much lower," said Amy Oppenheimer, a California-based lawyer who helps train companies nationally about appropriate workplace conduct.
The state government policy defines sexual harassment as "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature." Prohibited conduct includes "jokes" and "suggestive comments."
Louise L. Hayman, a longtime aide to Schaefer, defended his behavior, suggesting that Ehrlich's aide probably misinterpreted the comptroller's intent because she was not familiar with his joking nature.
"I think she overreacted, frankly," Hayman said. "I guess she was surprised by it. There's a generational issue here."
Hayman said that Schaefer has a well-established record of promoting women in the workplace and that those who have worked for him do not feel in any way offended by his habit of referring to accomplished women as "little girls."
"It sounds like he's demeaning you, but what he's really saying is he respects you," Hayman said. "I know that sounds odd."
Neither Kopp nor Ehrlich had much to say about the morning episode. Kopp said she did not witness it, adding, "I must have missed something interesting."
Ehrlich, who left immediately after the meeting, said Schaefer had effectively apologized.
"He ducked his head in the office and said obviously he didn't mean to offend anyone, and that was that," Ehrlich said.
Budget Secretary Cecilia Januszkiewicz, who was also at yesterday's meeting, declined to comment, telling reporters, "I'm not going to talk about that."
Schaefer said reporters' interest in his actions were a sign of the declining standards of the press. "I didn't think much of you before," he said. "But I think this is a low ebb."
Del. Peter Franchot (D-Montgomery), who is challenging Schaefer in the September primary, called the comptroller's comments yesterday "obviously inappropriate."
"I'm sure the comptroller, when he thinks about this, will feel badly about it," Franchot said.
Staff writers Ann E. Marimow and Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.