“Instead of going into the offices, he suddenly reached over and … put his hand on my leg, under my skirt toward my genitals… He also pushed my head toward his crotch.”
There are a lot of things that are okay if you’re a Republican, but sexual harassment isn’t one of them. Not only is it illegal–but in its most disgusting form as quid pro quo, it’s an abuse of power. Some sexual harassment allegations can be brushed off as misunderstandings, but there is no brushing off a request for oral sex in return for a job. And if sexual harassment isn’t bad enough, sexual assault is. I think that’s what they call it when a man tries to put his hand up the skirt of an unwilling woman.
Herman Cain tried to get sexual favors in exchange for his help finding a new job for a woman who had recently lost her post at an arm of the restaurant association he headed more than a decade ago, the woman, Sharon Bialek, charged Monday.
Bialek, the fourth woman who has accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior in the late 1990s and the first to go public with her charges, outlined her story at a high-profile New York City press conference at the Friars Club.
“I want you to come clean, Mr. Cain,” she said with her attorney, Gloria Allred, at her side. Allred is known for her media savvy and for representing women who have had legal issues with the rich and powerful.
Bialek said Cain put his hand under her skirt and pushed her head toward his crotch after a dinner together in 1997 after she asked to meet him to discuss ways he might be able to help her find employment. She said he backed away after she asked him to stop.
Incidentally, Bialek is reputed to be a Republican.
Was there a job being offered in exchange for anything?
“When she asked what he was doing, she said he responded by rhetorically asking her: ‘You want a job, right?'”
In my view, the unsolicited upgrade of Ms. Bialek’s hotel room to a “palatial suite” should not be hard to confirm. Surely we know what hotel, surely we know what date, surely those records still exist. Similarly, it should not be hard to work out what restaurant they shared dinner in and the vehicle in which the reported assault is alleged to have taken place.
The CEO of a company doesn’t personally upgrade the accommodations of every job applicant. I think her story rings true. If the upgrade happened, then his private life as a sexual predator is confirmed.
This man has no place in a national campaign. For anything. For anybody.
The Capital Hilton (16th Street NW) is frequently cited as “just two blocks from the White House.” Presumably some reporter is following up with them. I agree that these details should be easy to confirm. And should make Cain’s denials ring even more hallow.
the National Review Online. About checking on the hotel, that is.
In sexual harassment and assualt cases, there’s usually fire when there’s this much smoke. I single untrue accusation can happen, but when there are four, there’s usually something substantial.
Have the late-night comics made any comments about Herman Cain’s jobs program yet?