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Breaking: Herman Cain Accuser Releases Statement Through Attorney

Posted: November 4, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, Breaking News, Republican presidential politics, U.S. Politics | Tags: , , |16 Comments

Herman Cain

Here is the statement one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment while he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) in the 1999. The statement was made through her attorney Joel Bennett. Via Politico (emphasis added):

In 1999 I was retained by a female employee of the National Restaurant Association concerning several instances of sexual harassment by the then CEO.

She made a complaint in good faith about a series of inappropriate behaviors and unwanted advances from the CEO.

Those complaints were resolved in an agreement with her acceptance of a monetary settlement. She and her husband see no value in revisiting this matter now, nor in discussing this matter further, publicly or privately. In fact it would be extremely painful to do so.

She is grateful that she was able to return to her government career, where she is extremely happy serving the American people to the best of her ability. She looks forward to continuing to work hard for them as we face the significant challenges that lie ahead.

She wishes to thank the media for the restraint that they have shown, her family – especially her sisters – for their love and support, her colleagues and supervisors for their patience and forbearance and her advisors for their wise counsel, and most of all, her dear husband of 26 years for standing by her and putting up with all of this.

Everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. Sexual harassment is unfortunately very much alive and with us even today, and women must fight it in all kinds of workplaces and at all levels.

My client stands by the complaint she made.

According to Politico, the National Restaurant Association “waived the confidentiality restrictions to allow Cain’s accuser to speak through her lawyer and confirmed that her complaint had been filed against Cain.”

No doubt, more information will be coming out about Cain’s harassment of women. Abusers don’t just do this once. There is generally a pattern of similar incidents over time.


UPDATE: TPM has more from Joel Bennett

Cain has said that the one payout he was aware of was closer to a severance package than any kind of settlement over inappropriate behavior. Bennett said that was inaccurate and that the agreement was clearly tied to the sexual harassment complaint. Asked whether it was possible Cain didn’t know about the settlement, since has only acknowledged one of the cases, Bennett said it may have been resolved after he left the NRA but that it still was highly unlikely he wouldn’t be informed.

“I would be astounded if the complaint was not brought to his attention,” he said.

While he said he was not aware of the other woman who filed a complaint against Cain, he indicated the existence of other accusers bolstered his client’s claim that Cain sexually harassed women.

“There’s an expression: where there’s smoke there’s fire,” he said. “the fact that there are multiple complaints tells me that there was probably some sexual harassment behavior by this man at that time.”

16 Comments on “Breaking: Herman Cain Accuser Releases Statement Through Attorney”

  1. bostonboomer says:
    November 4, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    It’s not clear if it’s the same woman, but the NYT had more details on accusations against Cain this morning: Woman Said to Have Felt Hostility at Work After Complaining About Cain.

    The advances were said to have taken place during a festive night in which Mr. Cain and several younger staff members drank until late in the evening, and his flirty banter with the woman crossed over into propositions that she leave with him, these people said, speaking in separate interviews and on the condition of anonymity.

    One person with direct knowledge of her account at the time said that the woman — roughly two decades Mr. Cain’s junior and serving in a lower-level job — rebuffed him but that he continued to make advances. “She was uncomfortable, and it was inappropriate from the start,” this person said. “He was persistent.”

    • bostonboomer says:
      November 4, 2011 at 4:39 pm

      More:

      Three people familiar with the details of the woman’s account said that she complained to higher-ups at the restaurant association. She then came to feel that there was a “change of attitude,” from her bosses toward her, they said, adding to her discomfort and leading her to finally decide it would be best to leave.

      It was then that the deal to pay her a severance of $35,000 — roughly a year’s salary — was struck between her lawyer and the association’s general counsel, they said. The severance agreement was unusual not only for its size, three people familiar with it said, but also for its confidentiality provision.

  2. bostonboomer says:
    November 4, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    Here is more from Politico–posted this morning. Again, I’m not sure it’s the same woman, but it sounds like it.

    In recent days sources—including associates of the woman and people familiar with operations of the restaurant association—have offered new details of the incident.

    The woman in question, roughly 30 years old at the time and working in the National Restaurant Association’s government affairs division, told two people directly at the time that Cain made a sexual overture to her at one of the group’s events, according to the sources familiar with the incident. She was livid and lodged a verbal complaint with an NRA board member that same night, these sources said.

    The woman told one of the sources Cain made a suggestion that she felt was overtly sexual in nature and that “she perceived that her job was at risk if she didn’t do it.”

  3. quixote says:
    November 4, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Gawd. Why is this loon even running. I mean, where in hell would he get the idea that with no prior experience in politics, he could …

    Oh. Never mind.

    • bostonboomer says:
      November 4, 2011 at 4:44 pm

      I think he ran mainly to sell his book and maybe get a gig on Fox News. Same reason Newt Gingrich is running. At least Newt has some basic knowledge of the Constitution and how the government works.

    • quixote says:
      November 4, 2011 at 4:44 pm

      (I suddenly realize my comment insults real loons, genus Gavia, for which I apologize!)

    • Thursday's Child says:
      November 4, 2011 at 5:38 pm

      Why is this loon even running. I mean, where in hell would he get the idea that with no prior experience in politics, he could …

      He’s just claiming his God-given male right to run the world no matter how much he sucks at it.

  4. bostonboomer says:
    November 4, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    Herman Cain’s “defense”

  5. bostonboomer says:
    November 4, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    NPR tried to get a statement from the Cain campaign, and this is what they got:

    Cain campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon responded to NPR’s request for comment on Bennett’s remarks by emailing this statement: “We look forward to focusing our attention on the real issues impacting this country — like fixing this broken economy and putting Americans back to work through our 9-9-9 plan, as well as strengthening national security.”

    Al-righty then!

    • Fannie says:
      November 4, 2011 at 9:37 pm

      According to Cain and Gordon, women aren’t real, so why waste time focusing on the women.

      They both need mental health services.

  6. Minkoff Minx says:
    November 4, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    Oh, thanks for posting the update…the evening news reads are scheduled for 7pm.

  7. joanelle says:
    November 4, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    quixhote, I had the same thought last night as I was driving home – who the heck is this guy? and what on earth makes him think he can be president – and then I thought – Oh, well we’ve got precident for not needing any real credential to be president from the last two presidents, neither of whom had any kind of experience that would qualify them to fill that seat!

    Yes, wait for me – I’d like to get off with you.
    What on earth is going on? no one seems to make any sense, there are no adults at the helm – but I did see that Bill has a book coming out next week – “Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy” – should prove interesting. 🙂

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