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Thread: Cristina Garcia A Member of the California State Legislature is accused of Sexual Misconduct

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    Cristina Garcia A Member of the California State Legislature is accused of Sexual Misconduct

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...a-metoo-398985

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-...199198249.html

    Damn This is a rare case for women to face allegations for being the harasser

    An outspoken California lawmaker who has been at the forefront of the Capitol?s anti-sexual harassment movement is herself under investigation for allegedly groping a former legislative staff member.

    Daniel Fierro, who now operates a political communications firm in Cerritos, said Thursday that Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, cornered him at a legislative softball game in 2014, began stroking his back, squeezed his butt and attempted to grab his crotch before he extricated himself. Politico first reported the story.

    Fierro told The Bee in an interview that he initially hesitated to come forward, but he felt compelled after hearing that others may have had similar experiences with Garcia. He said he did not want Garcia?s lack of credibility to damage efforts to address sexual misconduct at the Capitol, a campaign that launched in October when she and 146 other women published an open letter slamming a ?pervasive? culture of harassment in California politics. Garcia also heads the California Legislative Women?s Caucus, which has been pushing legislative leaders to overhaul sexual harassment complaint and discipline policies.

    ?To see her be the face of the movement and have that draped around her, it?s incredibly hypocritical,? Fierro said. ?I don?t think it helps the movement. I don?t think it helps the victims.?




    In a statement, Garcia confirmed that she attended the 2014 softball game, but said the details of the complaint had not previously been brought to her attention.



    ?Every complaint about sexual harassment should be taken seriously and I will participate fully in any investigation that takes place,? she said. ?I can also say I have zero recollection of engaging in inappropriate behavior and such behavior is inconsistent with my values.?

    Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon confirmed in a statement that the Assembly has hired an outside firm to investigate the incident.

    ?I trust that while the investigation proceeds Assemblymember Garcia will respond appropriately and in a way that fortifies the Legislature?s effort to create a new climate,? he said. ?As in other cases, while the investigation moves forward, I am also asking Assembly Human Resources to reach out to Assemblymember Garcia?s staff to ensure they feel safe in their work environment.?

    Fierro said he was a young district staff member for Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, when the incident occurred. He attended the legislative softball game in August 2014 while visiting Sacramento on business, he said, and went to the dugout after the game to talk to his boss. As the dugout cleared out, Fierro said, Garcia walked in and came up to talk to him. He said they already knew each other because Garcia was his local assemblywoman.

    Garcia was ?clearly inebriated,? Fierro said, and grabbed his arm. At first he thought she was just trying to steady herself, but then Garcia grabbed his back, he said, and began to stroke it.



    ?Her hand was there and it slipped down to my butt and she tried to squeeze,? Fierro said. He said he knew then that it had crossed a line and he spun away from her to leave. As he was walking past her, Fierro said, Garcia made a grab for his crotch.

    ?The entire encounter lasted 30-45 seconds,? he said. ?I was in shock. I was embarrassed.?

    Fierro said it was ?not a life-damaging experience,? so he did not feel the need to report it to the Assembly at the time. He added that his mandatory sexual harassment training at the Capitol had never included examples where the victim was a man and the perpetrator was a woman, so he ?didn?t have a way to frame it? in his mind.

    But last month, Fierro said, people he knew began asking him about what had happened with Garcia. He said he was concerned that it might get out, so he wanted to warn his former boss. He said Calderon was ?very supportive? and said he would do everything he could to help. A few weeks later, Fierro said, he was contacted by the Assembly about a complaint that Calderon made on his behalf.

    Yes Sacbee is reporting this and apparently its at play here. I swear this is the same Downtown Sacramento that had to deal with a mayor that was being accused of similar allegations though in the past though.

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    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KambingSociety View Post
    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...a-metoo-398985

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-...199198249.html

    Damn This is a rare case for women to face allegations for being the harasser



    Yes Sacbee is reporting this and apparently its at play here. I swear this is the same Downtown Sacramento that had to deal with a mayor that was being accused of similar allegations though in the past though.
    Holla.

    Jk, this is an embarrassment.


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    Holla.

    Jk, this is an embarrassment.
    True and various Sacramento Area Media outlets are reporting that the accused congresswoman is the leader of #Metoo Sacramento and #Metoo California. Dang I bet a few years ago we would have considered "grab them by the male parts" a bad onion parody on if a female Donald Trump existed and this is on our backyard

    http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2018/...ve-of-absence/

    SACRAMENTO (AP) – California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia took a voluntary unpaid leave of absence Friday, a day after sexual misconduct allegations against her became public.

    Garcia, a Democrat and chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, is accused of groping former legislative staff member Daniel Fierro in 2014, an allegation she denies. He reported the claim in January and it is now under formal investigation. Garcia said she’s taking leave to avoid distractions and any appearance of influence over the investigation.

    “Upon reflection of the details alleged, I am certain I did not engage in the behavior I am accused of,” Garcia said in a statement. “However, as I’ve said before, any claims about sexual harassment must be taken seriously, and I believe elected officials should be held to a higher standard of accountability.”

    Fierro did not comment on Garcia’ decision. He’s accused her of stroking his back, grabbing his buttocks and trying to grab his crotch in the dugout after a legislative softball game. An anonymous male lobbyist told Politico on Thursday that Garcia made a crude sexual remark and tried to grab his crotch at a May 2017 fundraiser.

    Both the lobbyist and Fierro said Garcia appeared to be drunk at the time of the incidents.

    Garcia, of Bell Gardens, has been a prominent voice for women’s rights since she was elected in 2012, and more recently has spoken out in support of the #MeToo movement that’s gripped the California Capitol and the nation.

    She was one of nearly 150 women to sign an open letter in October calling out a pervasive culture of sexual harassment at the Capitol and said she herself has been the target of groping and inappropriate remarks by people in the building. On Monday, she spoke at a rally outside the Capitol in favor of legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown giving legislative staff members whistleblower protections for reporting sexual misconduct or other misbehavior.

    The movement prompted two assemblymen to resign last year, and Sen. Tony Mendoza is on suspension during an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior.

    About two dozen sexual harassment allegations were made against Assembly lawmakers, staff and lobbyists in 2017 – the most within a single year since 2006 – and at least eight allegations are pending, according to documents released last week.

    Fierro first reported the incident in January to his former boss, Democratic Assemblyman Ian Calderon, who reported it to Assembly leaders. Fierro said he decided to tell Calderon about the incident because of Garcia’s outspokenness in the #MeToo movement, which has led to investigations in statehouses nationwide.

    “If the person leading the charge on it isn’t credible it just ends up hurting the credibility of these very real stories,” Fierro told the AP.

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    Certified Grumple Bottoms Ron_NYC's Avatar
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    I guess the mix up was that she thought the #metoo movement was for harassers.

    You grabbed some ass? Well me too.
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Ron was the best part, hands down.

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    Cousin Greg Angiebla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ron_NYC View Post
    I guess the mix up was that she thought the #metoo movement was for harassers.

    You grabbed some ass? Well me too.
    She grabbed his crotch too.

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Chelsea, if you are a ghost and reading mds, I command you to walk into the light.

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    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...torney-1083451

    Yes this is not the only case of "Grab em by the Male parts" has happened. In an unrelated scandal Adam Venit got sued by Terry Crews(Actor) for the same allegation. Apparently this issue of men being "grabbed by the male parts" is only discussed on the local levels for now simply because its being over shadowed by the sheer numbers of women that are so far that have come forward in lawsuits as the victim.

    I cannot to see a Billy Bush tape where Assemblywoman Garcia says "You can grab a man by the male parts and get away with it because men are supposed to take powerful women seriously"? But come on if the allegations are true we need to rethink on the issue of misconduct again.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KambingSociety View Post
    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...torney-1083451

    Yes this is not the only case of "Grab em by the Male parts" has happened. In an unrelated scandal Adam Venit got sued by Terry Crews(Actor/victim) for the same allegation. Apparently this issue of men being "grabbed by the male parts" is only discussed on the local levels for now simply because its being over shadowed by the sheer numbers of women that are so far that have come forward in lawsuits as the victim.

    I cannot wait to see a Billy Bush tape where Assemblywoman Garcia says "You can grab a man by the male parts and get away with it because men are supposed to take powerful women seriously"? But come on if the allegations are true we need to rethink on the issue of misconduct again.

    Well we did have an unrelated thread where we talked about female teachers that have been convicted for "grabbing their male students by their penis" but a lot of this was mainly confined in the local news outlets though and only local school district outrage. So Far it will be interesting how will this play out given that this is one rare case where its a female politician that's facing this allegation.

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    http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editor...199423314.html

    Here is a Sacbee update

    Daniel Fierro understands he is not the familiar face of the #MeToo or #WeSaidEnough movements.

    Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, was.

    Garcia, co-chair of the legislative women’s caucus, was on the cover of Time magazine a few months ago with other Silence Breakers, speaking truth about men who abused their power by harassing women.

    Garcia was posing on the Assembly floor last month with other powerful women wearing black, showing her solidarity with sisters working in low-paying jobs, vulnerable to unwanted advances.



    Garcia was speaking on the Assembly floor the other day in favor of the bill granting whistleblower protection for legislative staff members who had to endure lecherous legislators.

    “You’re not standing alone,” she said.

    Fierro was one of the people who did feel alone and unsure of the implications for his future. Fierro recalled being groped by Garcia in 2014 after the annual legislative softball game at Raley Field, as first reported by Carla Marinucci in Politico.

    Politico anonymously quoted another man, a lobbyist, telling a similar story of being accosted by Garcia in 2017 and saying he smelled alcohol on her breath. Similarly, Fierro said Garcia seemed inebriated in 2014.

    On Friday, Garcia announced she would take an unpaid leave pending an investigation by the Assembly Rules Committee. That was the only proper response, given her statements about men who had committed similar acts. But she also issued a statement saying she is “certain I did not engage in the behavior I am accused of.”

    Fierro said he never felt physically threatened by Garcia or unable to escape. “I have female colleagues who have gone through much worse,” he said in an interview with a Sacramento Bee editorial board member.

    And yet there is a familiar ring to what Fierro describes: a person with authority imposing on a subordinate. In 2014, Fierro was 25, a junior staffer working for Assemblyman Ian Calderon, definitely “not looking to cause trouble.”

    He sees Garcia at political events, lives in Cerritos, which is part of her district, and worries his firm, Presidio Strategic Communications, could take a hit. That would affect employees who depend on him.

    But he also became angry at what he saw as Garcia’s hypocrisy as she sought to become one of the most out-front leaders of a movement that is bringing about much needed change in the workplace.

    In denouncing harassers, Garcia has insisted people believe accusers, and disclosed that a powerful male lobbyist groped her shortly after she took office in 2012, though she has not named him.

    “It started two weeks after I was elected,” Garcia said, as reported by The Sacramento Bee’s Taryn Luna and Alexei Koseff when the #MeToo movement was gathering momentum. “I had a lobbyist grab my butt and I had a senator tell me not to do anything because this guy had power and it was bad for my career.”

    After hearing such comments, Fierro last month told his old boss, Calderon, who properly informed the Assembly Rules Committee. Garcia said she hopes the committee quickly completes its investigation into Fierro’s allegation. We hope so, too.

    For some people, this episode will raise credibility questions about the #MeToo claims. It shouldn’t. Whatever the investigation yields, it won’t hurt to remind that the impulse to abuse power is an equal opportunity character flaw.

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    http://www.capradio.org/articles/201...fornia-capitol

    Here is an update on the #me too Sacramento leader in a new allegation.

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    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...islator-416916

    Damn! this stuff gets crazier

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-...200864729.html

    A former employee of Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia filed a complaint with the state on Saturday, seeking to sue the Bell Gardens Democrat for allegedly firing him after he refused to play “spin the bottle” with her.

    In the complaint to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which was posted online Sunday by his lawyer, J. David Kernick of San Diego wrote that during his time as a field representative in 2014, Garcia was “very disparaging to the staff and others, used vulgar language, discussed topics inappropriate for the workplace and showed herself to be very vindictive in nature.”

    It is the second accusation of sexual misconduct against Garcia, who is currently on a voluntary, unpaid leave of absence while the Assembly investigates claims that she drunkenly groped a former legislative staff member. In addition, a lawyer on Wednesday released a list of other allegations from four former employees in Garcia’s office who said they wished to remain anonymous.

    Kernick could not immediately be reached Sunday for comment about his complaint. In his complaint, he wrote that Garcia was “seemingly not critical” of his work until “after he questioned the appropriateness of her suggestion that after a fundraiser at a whiskey bar” they “sit on the floor of her hotel room and play spin the bottle.”

    He was disciplined with a “write up for insubordination,” Kernick wrote, and then fired two days later. Garcia used this write-up to prevent him from finding further work in politics, he added.

    Tim Reardon, who served as Garcia’s chief of staff in 2014, called the complaint a “complete falsehood.” He said Kernick was warned for not doing his job, was encouraged to do better and was fired when his work did not improve.

    “If Mr. Kernick wants to talk about his time working there, then he ought to open up his own personnel records and let people see what was written in there,” Reardon said.

    He said he never received any formal or informal complaints about Garcia or the office environment during his time as chief of staff. He believes the allegations are part of a political attack against Garcia, though he does not know who is behind it.

    “It’s like a malicious, really bizarre alternate universe built on a lot of innuendo and lies solely to destroy to character of Assemblywoman Garcia,” Reardon said. “That’s all that I can see.”

    Another former staff member shared with The Bee a voicemail they received last week from a private investigator, asking to discuss their time working for Garcia. A message left for the investigator by The Bee on Sunday was not returned.

    Earlier this week, four anonymous former Garcia staffers submitted a complaint to the Assembly through the same attorney as Kernick, describing a “toxic environment” of heavy drinking and graphic sexual discussions in her office. It also included at least one allegation of illegal activity: that Garcia sometimes directed her staff to perform campaign work, such as fundraising and donation request calls, on Assembly time.

    During a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, San Diego attorney Dan Gilleon said his clients wanted to expose Garcia’s outspoken advocacy against sexual harassment at the Capitol as “phony.”

    “She’s probably going to have to, at some point, acknowledge that she has some issues,” he said.

    The anonymous letter describes Garcia pressuring staff to drink with her, frequently sharing details about her sex life, constantly reminding staff members that they were “replaceable,” asking them to run personal errands such as taking care of her dogs and pressuring them to assist with campaigns.

    In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Garcia wrote that she would “address each of these issues individually after the investigations into these allegations are closed.”

    “However, in response to (the) allegations I will add that in order for legislators to accomplish all we want for the people of our districts and the people of California, we need talented staff who feel empowered to do their work,” she wrote. “That is the environment I strive for in my office and I am confident I have consistently treated my staff fairly and respectfully. In a fast-paced legislative office, not everyone is the right fit for every position, and I do understand how a normal employment decision could be misinterpreted by the individual involved in that decision.”

    Gilleon said his clients were hesitant to come forward for fear of reprisal. He said the former staff members had not brought their concerns about her behavior to Garcia or the Assembly before, but the groping allegations that surfaced last week gave them the chance they’ve been waiting for.

    Daniel Fierro, who now operates a political communications firm in Cerritos, said Garcia cornered him at a legislative softball game in 2014, squeezed his butt and attempted to grab his crotch. He said it was hypocritical of Garcia to put herself at the forefront of the Capitol’s anti-sexual harassment movement, and he came forward because he heard that others may have had similar experiences with her.

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