Judging by her public remarks in press conferences and from the floor of the California State Assembly, from her Twitter account, and from her own claims, California Labor Federation chief Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher’s entire career has been about protecting marginalized workers against the management and corporations she believes take advantage of them. A few examples: Gonzalez has been especially vocal in her support of women who have been sexually harassed at work and has sponsored legislation strengthening protections for people who report workplace sexual harassment.
And, she’s very clear as to what constitutes sexual assault. Gonzalez Fletcher had the opportunity to put her money where her mouth is when her husband, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, was named in a sexual harassment complaint filed by a county employee who alleges that Fletcher pursued her romantically and sexually assaulted her twice at the workplace (a county office building) and that she was fired after she rebuffed him. Not surprisingly, despite her promise to “never leave a low-wage worker behind” and her claims that she’s on the side of victims, Gonzalez Fletcher is alleged to have done much more than leave a low-wage worker behind. When San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) PR specialist Grecia Figueroa filed that sexual harassment claim against Nathan Fletcher and the agency – an agency in which many employees are unionized and part of the California Labor Federation – Gonzalez Fletcher herself stepped in to threaten, harass, intimidate, and attempt to silence the victim. To emphasize, so the point isn’t lost: the state’s most powerful union leader personally participated in threatening, harassing, and intimidating a victim who had filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) regarding the sexual harassment and abuse she’d experienced on the job, and her termination after telling her abuser no. When the victim received a “right to sue” letter with DFEH and exercised that right, that labor union leader then personally participated in defaming the victim and accusing her of attempted extortion. Here’s how it all went down. After Figueroa was fired on February 6 and forced to leave the San Diego MTS premises without her personal belongings and without being given any reason for her dismissal, she filed a complaint with DFEH against Fletcher and San Diego MTS. Then, according to her verified civil complaint:
That good-faith dialogue, if it ever occurred, didn’t last long. Paragraphs 58-61 state:
On Tuesday, March 28, Figueroa’s counsel filed a civil complaint against Fletcher and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. The file-stamped copy reflects that it was filed at 5:41 PM that night, so it wasn’t recorded by the court until the next morning. Fletcher’s attorney would have been notified immediately, though, so Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher knew what was coming the next morning when it hit the news. Ostensibly Nathan Fletcher, who was allegedly in inpatient alcohol rehab in another state, wouldn’t have known about this development, but somehow was able to issue a statement the next morning, before news of the lawsuit broke. In that statement, the Fletchers made good on at least part of their threat. Nathan Fletcher is quoted as saying:
Hmmm. Perhaps he had pre-scripted this statement in case the news came out while he was in rehab? Fletcher makes it a point to say that he engaged in “consensual interactions” and insinuated that the relationship broke down because Figueroa wanted more than a fling because he knew that the lawsuit would state the opposite. Essentially, he paints her as a money-hungry, clingy woman. Fletcher’s attorney also maligned the woman, publicly accusing her of attempted extortion and filing a malicious lawsuit. The attorney, Danielle Moore, asserts that Fletcher had no authority over Figueroa’s employment, which might be technically true but is laughable for anyone who understands how politics works.
After this statement was released, Figueroa’s attorney called out Fletcher, Gonzalez, and their attorney, reminding the public that during pre-filing settlement discussions, Gonzalez threatened to destroy Figueroa’s life if she went public. After requesting privacy for Figueroa and for all media requests to go through his office, the attorney said:
Figueroa is pursuing a claim of sexual harassment against both Fletcher and MTS and a claim of whistleblower retaliation against MTS under California Labor Code section 1102.5(b):
So not only did Gonzalez threaten and intimidate a woman pursuing workplace sexual harassment/assault and whistleblower claims, she participated in defaming that woman when she did file a lawsuit. As an attorney and a member of the State Bar of California, it’s also inappropriate for Gonzalez to engage in such behavior. Regarding these allegations, California attorney Kurt Schlichter, who practices labor law, tells RedState:
And, according to local journalist Steve Horn, Gonzalez has been at the offices of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors since Fletcher went off to rehab “doing damage control work.” What exactly does that mean? Perhaps the two women who resigned from Fletcher’s office this week can shed some light on that. And Fletcher can’t credibly claim that he didn’t know what the rules were. Ironically, a bill co-sponsored by his wife in 2016 (before they were married), mandated sexual harassment prevention training for local elected officials. Since Wednesday one other woman who worked with Fletcher has come forward with a claim that Fletcher touched her inappropriately and sent her sexually explicit texts in 2015 when she was 19 years old and an intern for his Three Wise Men foundation, and says that when she reported his conduct to her supervisor no action was taken. Fletcher’s office immediately produced an email from the time frame in which that supervisor and Fletcher discussed the woman’s allegations and dismissed them. The woman went on with her college career, and presumably, that incident has not affected her career. But given what’s been revealed about Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher’s actions in the case with Grecia Figueroa, and knowing how the couple deals with people they consider political enemies, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Fletcher has sexually harassed many other women and that he and his wife have harassed, intimidated, and threatened them into silence. |
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