How a Delco Democrat accused of sexual harassment in 2019 remained in office for years

The Delaware County lawmaker who resigned from the Pennsylvania House last week amid sexual harassment allegations was warned by top House Democrats more than three years ago that he needed to change his behavior.

When House Democrats first learned in 2019 that a lobbyist had accused state Rep. Mike Zabel of sexually harassing her, then-House Minority Leader Frank Dermody told Zabel he needed to get his alcohol use under control — the lawmaker reportedly had been drinking during the alleged episode — and complete sexual harassment training, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Zabel complied and went through a substance abuse program, a spokesperson for House Democrats confirmed. For a while, he stopped drinking, some sources say.

But the behind-the-scenes effort to hold Zabel accountable ultimately failed.

As lawmakers returned to in-person activities in Harrisburg, social gatherings such as fundraisers — a core part of the job — also picked up. And people noticed Zabel’s use of alcohol.

As recently as Jan. 3, the day lawmakers took their two-year oaths of office, Zabel was seen groping a female lobbyist by grabbing her buttocks at a hotel bar in Harrisburg, according to a person who was in the room and another source later briefed on the previously unreported episode. A male lawmaker had to intervene to break it up. Among those who witnessed the episode was the woman who filed the 2019 complaint.

Last week, Rep. Abby Major said Zabel harassed her in November and followed her to her car. Zabel’s former campaign manager has also come forward with their own experience with Zabel’s inappropriate behavior.

Zabel, a 44-year-old former prosecutor serving his third two-year term, announced his resignation last week, hours after Major told reporters about her encounter with Zabel.

This account of how senior Democratic lawmakers tried to address the allegations underscores how difficult it can be in statehouses to get accountability for inappropriate behavior. Most of the people interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

The allegations against Zabel became public just weeks after Democrats officially won a majority in the Pennsylvania House, quickly testing how the party would balance its narrow majority against the values it often espouses.

Dermody — whose term ended in 2020 — and Zabel did not respond to requests for comment.

Andi Perez, the lobbyist who filed the 2019 complaint, has said Zabel caressed her leg while they were discussing legislation.

Perez declined to comment for this article.

She shared her account with House Democratic leaders two years into the #MeToo movement. At the time, the GOP-led House’s operating rules offered no venue for a non-House employee such as Perez to file an ethics complaint against a lawmaker. Democrats changed the rules this month, shortly after the party took control of the chamber — and in no small part because of Perez’s lobbying.

Zabel had not yet been identified. But just as the House changed its operating rules, Perez and others publicly identified him in news accounts. Zabel quickly faced calls to resign from victims, Republicans, and some Democrats.

» READ MORE: Lobbyist calls for anti-sexual harassment policy during House speaker’s listening tour

At the time, House Speaker Joanna McClinton’s office said Democratic leaders supported Zabel’s decision to seek treatment for an unspecified condition and resign from his committee seats. The statement stopped short of demanding Zabel’s resignation.

McClinton and other Democratic leaders also initially suggested they were previously unaware of Perez’s account, saying in response to news coverage of it that they were “concerned by the allegations we learned today.”

In response to questions from The Inquirer, a spokesperson for House Democratic leaders said Friday that they had been aware of rumors about Zabel’s behavior.

The spokesperson, Elizabeth Rementer, confirmed that Dermody in 2019 directed Zabel to seek treatment through a state program that offers services related to substance abuse.

“He was also required to complete one-on-one harassment, discrimination and retaliation training in person with outside legal counsel, as well as Caucus training on power dynamics, which he completed,” Rementer said in an email.

“More recently, prior to the personal accounts that were released last week, there have been rumors circulating regarding Rep. Zabel’s behavior,” she continued. “Due to these persistent rumors, and based upon the prior corrective actions put in place, the concerns shared were directly addressed with Rep. Zabel.”

» READ MORE: A sexual harassment allegation is straining Pa. House Democrats’ narrow majority

Leadership told Zabel that such behavior was unacceptable and said assistance was available to him if he needed it, she said.

“We have been and remain deeply troubled by the allegations and as always, take all allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously,” Rementer said.

Zabel was first elected to the House in 2018, winning 53% of the vote in an Upper Darby-based district that had been held by Republicans for almost 40 years.

His election was emblematic of a broader suburban shift toward Democrats that accelerated during Donald Trump’s presidency. A year later, Democrats won control of the Delaware County Council for the first time since before the Civil War.

Some of Zabel’s colleagues and others in Delco Democratic political circles describe him as a strong advocate for his constituents and effective legislator.

But his use of alcohol was also apparent.

His behavior while drinking — making women uncomfortable by touching them or making unwelcomed remarks — was less well known. Many Democrats knew Perez accused Zabel in 2019 of caressing her leg while discussing legislation, but few knew the extent of the accusations to come in 2023.

House leaders kept Perez apprised of the programs Zabel was undergoing. She was skeptical that he’d completed them, according to a source familiar with the matter. Perez decided to file a complaint with the House Ethics Committee, but she was turned away because, as a lobbyist, she wasn’t a House employee.

Zabel was reelected in 2020.

Last year, he briefly faced a primary challenge, when the progressive Working Families Party endorsed former Collingdale Mayor Felecia Coffee in the 163rd House District race. The Working Families Party is closely aligned with SEIU, the union for which Perez lobbies. A person familiar with the WFP’s thinking said the organization was aware of rumors about Zabel’s conduct.

But Coffee didn’t make the ballot, and Zabel went on to win the general election with 64% of the vote.

“In 2018, I became the first Democrat to represent my home in four decades,” Zabel wrote in a fundraising email last year. “I’d like to think it’s because when I look at my neighbors, I don’t see Democrats and Republicans. I see people who want a government that listens and works for them.”

Zabel’s resignation is effective March 16. That will give Democrats enough time to schedule a special election for the same day as the May 16 primary as the party seeks to maintain its one-seat majority.

March 16 is also the next time the House Ethics committee is scheduled to meet.

Members of the evenly split committee — four Democrats and four Republicans — are empowered to investigate complaints about episodes dating back five years, as part of Democrats’ rules reforms.

Zabel’s resignation has prompted another debate: After achieving a measure of systemic reform in the handling of harassment claims, some Democrats are wondering whether the new process will even be followed — or whether calls for resignation will short-circuit any future investigations.

» READ MORE: What to know about the accusations of sexual harassment against Mike Zabel

Harrisburg has grappled with dozens of sexual harassment complaints — and paid out at least $3.2 million in taxpayer funds from 2010 to 2018 to settle the claims, according to an analysis by The Inquirer and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time.

Since the #MeToo movement began in 2017, several other state lawmakers have been accused publicly of sexual misconduct and resigned.

Major, the lawmaker who said Zabel harassed her last year, said the culture in Harrisburg needs to change.

“We’re not going to stop, and we’re not going to put up with this anymore from any man in this building, regardless of political party,” she said during a news conference last week. “If this had been dealt with when Andi first reported it years ago, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”