Attorney targets assemblywoman with anonymous accusers

SACRAMENTO — A prominent employment attorney known for winning a sexual harassment case against former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner set his sights on a new target Wednesday: a woman legislator known as one of the leaders of the #WeSaidEnough movement.

Daniel M. Gilleon delivered a letter to the state Legislature with new allegations of workplace misconduct by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens. He said the letter was sent on behalf of four former Garcia staffers who declined to give their names.

“They believe that when they go to human resources, they are there to protect the members and not the staffers,” Gilleon said. He said the accusers will likely come forward at a future date, and that more accusers may be added.

Gilleon distributed a four-page letter alleging Garcia often drank in the office and pressured staffers to do so as well. They claim she spoke inappropriately about her sex life, including with other legislators, used foul language and ordered staffers to do personal errands for her. These actions constitute harassment, he said.

But none of the anonymous accusers said Garcia made sexual advances on the staffers, Gilleon acknowledged.

“It depends on how you want to define sexual harassment,” Gilleon said. “There hasn’t been any groping of any of these four.”

The anonymous charges angered Garcia’s former chief of staff, who said he would have known if any of the staffers filed complaints.

“I’m beyond appalled,” said Tim Reardon, who was Garcia’s chief of staff from 2013 until he retired in 2016. Reardon also filled in for three months last year while Garcia’s current chief of staff was on maternity leave.

“This is nothing I have been made aware of,” Reardon added. “I haven’t heard a complaint from any staff about any of these things, not one. It’s really unfortunate that, for whatever reason, employees who have gone on have felt the need to do this. I would say this is really character assassination on Cristina Garcia.”

(Disclosure: the writer of this article worked in the Assembly in 2011 and 2012, and reported to Reardon.)

Gilleon is a partner with the Gilleon Law Firm in San Diego. He won a harassment suit against the mayor, Filner, in 2016 on behalf of a city parks manager, though the jury said the harassment was not pervasive and awarded no damages. Filner stepped down in 2013 after numerous harassment allegations came to light. Garcia, a prominent signer of the #WeSaidEnough letter detailing sexual harassment, is on unpaid leave while the Legislature investigates sexual harassment allegations against her.

This followed a formal complaint by Daniel Fierro. He alleged that in 2014, when he was 25, Garcia attempted to grope him while she was drunk after the annual legislative softball game.

In media reports, Fierro was quoted as saying he came forward due to the hypocrisy he believed Garcia showed in placing herself at the forefront of the #WeSaidEnough movement. A male Sacramento lobbyist was also quoted anonymously in media reports claiming Garcia tried to grope him at an after-hours Capitol event last year.

The source of the charges has raised some eyebrows. Fierro worked for Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier. Garcia is known as a political enemy of the powerful Calderon political clan. She beat Tom Calderon, Ian Calderon’s uncle and the one-time favorite in the race, to win her Assembly seat in 2012.

Garcia’s office declined to comment Wednesday.

“I am certain I did not engage in the behavior I am accused of,” Garcia said in a Friday 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.”

The allegations against Garcia have been a distraction to the movement to fight workplace sexual harassment, with many critics on the internet pointing out what they say is her hypocrisy.

Her political career also has taken a hit. Earlier on Wednesday, the California Legislative Women’s Caucus announced that Garcia was no longer its chair; Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, was named interim acting chair.

Three other Democrats, all men, have filed papers to challenge Garcia for her Assembly seat. Garcia ran unopposed in 2014. In 2016, she beat her Republican opponent by 50 points.