PIERRE — An exchange between a legislative staffer and a South Dakota senator regarding Covid vaccinations is at the center of workplace harassment allegations that got the lawmaker stripped of a pair of committee assignments, The Dakota Scout has confirmed.

Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller was removed Wednesday from her assignments on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and Local Government Committee after a legislative staffer complained that Frye-Mueller had been verbally abusive about the staffer’s family vaccination decisions.

NEWS: Senator stripped of her committee assignments in rare rebuke