{"id":58398,"date":"2018-02-09T05:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58398"},"modified":"2018-02-09T05:00:31","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T05:00:31","slug":"metoo-movement-lawmaker-investigated-for-sexual-misconduct-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/metoo-movement-lawmaker-investigated-for-sexual-misconduct-allegations.html","title":{"rendered":"MeToo movement lawmaker investigated for sexual misconduct allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"

MeToo movement lawmaker investigated for sexual misconduct allegations<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia \u2014 whose high-profile advocacy of the #MeToo movement earned her national media notice \u2014 is herself the subject of a state legislative investigation in the wake of a report that she sexually harassed and groped a former legislative staffer.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December, when Time magazine announced that \u201cSilence Breakers\u201d who spoke out against sexual harassment were its Persons of the Year, Garcia\u2019s face was prominently included in the art accompanying the cover story.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Daniel Fierro of Cerritos told POLITICO that in 2014, as a 25-year-old staffer to Assemblyman Ian Calderon, he was groped by Garcia, a powerful Democratic lawmaker who chairs the Legislative Women\u2019s Caucus and the Natural Resources Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said she cornered him alone after the annual Assembly softball game in Sacramento as he attempted to clean up the dugout. Fierro, who said Garcia appeared inebriated, said she began stroking his back, then squeezed his buttocks and attempted to touch his crotch before he extricated himself and quickly left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro said he never reported the incident, which occurred years before the current #MeToo movement and new whistleblower legislation to protect legislative staffers. But after he mentioned the issue last January to Calderon, his former boss, the matter was then referred to the Assembly Rules Committee, which launched an investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro is not the only one claiming improper advances by Garcia. A prominent Sacramento lobbyist says she also accosted him in May 2017, when she cornered him, made a graphic sexual proposal, and tried to grab his crotch at a political fundraiser. He spoke to POLITICO on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lobbyist, who represents a major industry association, said that Garcia appeared to have been drinking heavily at a fundraiser hosted by Governor Jerry Brown for state Senator Josh Newman at the de Veres bar in Sacramento. He said he was heading out the door in part to avoid the assemblywoman \u2014 who had been increasingly \u201cflirtatious\u201d and had called him on a few occasions before for late night drinks which he repeatedly declined.<\/span><\/p>\n

She spotted him and said,\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d the lobbyist said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe came back and was whispering real close and I could smell the booze and see she was pretty far gone,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cShe looked at me for a second and said, \u201cI\u2019ve set a goal for myself to fuck you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At that point, Garcia \u201cstepped in front of me and reaches out and is grabbing for my crotch,\u2019\u2019 he said. That was \u201cthe line in the sand,\u201d according to the lobbyist, and he stopped her. \u201cI was four inches from her, eyeball to eyeball — and I said, \u2018That ain\u2019t gonna happen.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The accusations against Garcia come at the close of months of high-profile activism on the issue of sexual harassment by the assemblywoman, who became one of Sacramento\u2019s leading voices on #MeToo issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia was one of hundreds of Sacramento women who signed a letter with the hashtag #WeSaidEnough protesting harassment, and told the New York Times that she had been the repeated victim of sexual harassment by men in the Capitol in the course of her legislative work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple people have grabbed my butt and grabbed my breasts,\u201d she told the Times. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about senior lobbyists and lawmakers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Time magazine included her photo in its Persons of the Year issue, Garcia tweeted, \u201cI didn\u2019t know I was part of the story,\u2019\u2019 saying it was an \u201cawkwardly humbling experience. I\u2019m proud of this work, and proud of the company I\u2019m in.\u201d She added the hashtags #MeToo and #WeSaidEnough.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessica Levinson, a professor of law and political ethics at Loyola Law School of Los Angeles \u2014 and the current president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission \u2014 said that, if proven true, the accusations against Garcia threaten to seriously damage the nationwide movement that has been credited with bringing the issue of sexual harassment into the open.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHypocrisy knows no bounds and no partisanship, it crosses all party affiliations,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cTo the extent that these are substantiated claims, there\u2019s a picture of Cristina Garcia as a hypocrite in the dictionary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The stories underscore how \u201csexual harassment is not OK, period \u2014 regardless of whether it\u2019s by a man, or a woman. And frankly, this threatens to set the movement back \u2014 because when you have one of the faces of this movement facing these allegations, that\u2019s a real problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will say, well, everybody on both sides does bad things \u2014 but it goes to who can we really believe anymore?\u201d Levinson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro provided POLITICO with copies of his correspondence with Elizabeth H. Foster, the human resources coordinator for the committee regarding the case. He said he sat for a lengthy interview last Friday with attorney Vida Thomas of Weintraub Tobin, the law firm hired by the Assembly Rules Committee to investigate sexual harassment complaints.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery complaint about sexual harassment should be taken seriously and I will participate fully in any investigation that takes place,\u201dsaid Garcia in a statement Thursday. \u201cThe details of these claims have never been brought to my attention until today. I can confirm that I did attend the 2014 legislative softball game with a number of members and my staff. I can also say I have zero recollection of engaging in inappropriate behavior and such behavior is inconsistent with my values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Teala Schaff, spokeswoman for Garcia\u2019s office, said the assemblywoman was aware of the report to the Assembly Rules committee, but was not made aware of the details of the complaint.<\/span><\/p>\n

In coming forward, Fierro said he felt the same doubts that women have expressed in similar situations. \u201cI thought, ‘What did I do?’\u201d to bring on the sexual aggression, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike many women, he said he never felt physically threatened, and always felt supported by Calderon, his boss. But he said he feared repercussions from an influential assemblywoman who could affect his fledgling communication business. \u201cWho wants to be that guy that Cristina Garcia is going after?\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro said he would not be surprised if Garcia does not even remember the groping incident, saying she was so intoxicated that when he saw her later that night at another event, \u201cshe had to have other people hold her up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Two Assembly staffers who were Sacramento colleagues with Fierro, who is now president of his own Southern California firm, Presidio Strategic Communications, confirmed to POLITICO that he related the incident to them immediately after the episode.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lerna Shirinian, the communications director for Calderon, said \u201cI remember it very clearly, he told me as soon as it happened..he was in shock, I was in shock \u2014 but the culture was very different back then,\u2019\u2019 Shirinian said, noting the admission was in confidence and she had to respect her friend\u2019s decision not to report it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another former legislative staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said Garcia was known to speak about sexual issues to young staffers in the office, sometimes in graphic detail, and occasionally to be a hard drinker in Sacramento.<\/span><\/p>\n

He confirmed hearing Fierro\u2019s account, saying he remembered the incident because Garcia was partying and drinking more heavily at the legislative softball game in celebration of her birthday. Records show the Assembly Legislative Softball game was August 20, 2014; Garcia\u2019s birthday is August 22.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sacramento lobbyist never formally reported the matter out of concern for his clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

But his account of the groping incident was corroborated by another high profile political operative in Sacramento, who declined to be named for publication. She said at the time the lobbyist was both angered and \u201chumiliated\u201d by the encounter, and disturbed that his sexual rejection of Garcia could have implications for his industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both she \u2014 and the lobbyist \u2014 believe it may already have.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lobbyist said he has seen Garcia in an intoxicated state on several occasions around Sacramento, sometimes appearing to need help; he cited an evening late in 2016 when he said she emerged from an Old Town Sacramento bar with staffers, and urged him to come with them on \u201ca pub crawl.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s been particularly been bothered by the incident in the wake of Garcia\u2019s national fame as a feminist leader on the #MeToo movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI watched her jumping into this, and she\u2019s Joan of Arc,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cShe\u2019s pushing against people who have done a lot of things — some worse than her, and some not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro also pointed to the rise of the #MeToo movement as the impetus for finally admitting the incident to Calderon. He said he was assured by Assembly Rules that his complaint would be confidential \u2014 but within 48 hours of it reaching the committee, \u201cI was getting calls\u201d from outside sources who heard about it. \u201cThere was clearly a a leak.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, he said, \u201cpeople were starting to ask me about it\u2026.I was getting nervous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After relating his experiences to the Assembly\u2019s hired attorney last week, Fierro said he was also concerned that a significant part of the questioning appeared to be focused on about \u201cHow did it get out? Who did you tell?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, he said, \u201cI honestly think the Assembly tries. I spent a long time in the institution, and I love it, and I\u2019m usually a cheerleader for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The California legislature has moved to expedite sexual harassment reports against lawmakers in the wake of activism by the #WeSaidEnough organization last year, when women reported their complaints were being swept under the rug, delayed for months or dismissed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under a new process instituted this year, the Assembly Rules Committee refers complaints deemed valid to an independent law firm \u2014 legislators say they believe that will speed the process of assisting victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ten allegations of sexual harassment are pending before the Assembly, according to Speaker Anthony Rendon\u2019s office.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no set time frame for findings to be issued\u201d in those cases, said a spokesman for Rendon.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Fierro notes that even with additional protections mandated by the passage of the landmark whistleblower legislation last week, he is not protected. Since he no longer works for the legislature, Fierro won\u2019t receive legal counsel or any help in his effort to report the assemblywoman\u2019s conduct. Nor will he have any protection from retribution in the insular world of California politics, where former staffers, strategists, lawmakers and lobbyists often cross paths.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are not an employee, there is absolutely zero protection \u2014 and Sacramento is a revolving door,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t stick around long, and in that situation, once you\u2019re outside \u2014 it\u2019s discouraging.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He says his case underscores how legislators must face the reality that sexual harassment is occurring on both sides of the aisle — and by both sexes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have female co-workers who have gone through this \u2014 and it absolutely needs to be talked about,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThe problem is when Cristina is the one, it\u2019s for everyone to roll their eyes..and it takes away from the issue…and the credibility.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meta:- https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/02\/08\/cristina-garcia-california-metoo-398985<\/span><\/p>\n

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