New Republican Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil’s Former Staffer Sues for Alleged Sexual Harassment

Four weeks after California State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil announced she was leaving the Democrat Party and switching her party affiliation to Republican, her former chief of staff has sued her for alleged sexual harassment.

Chad Condit charges Alvarado-Gil of creating a hostile work environment, and claims she pressured him into performing sex acts and then fired him when he resisted, Politico reported.

Condit also accuses both Alvarado-Gil and the California State Senate of discrimination in violation of state employment protections in the Sacramento Superior Court lawsuit filed Thursday.

It’s curious that Condit did not file his lawsuit sooner – ahead of Alvarado-Gil changing political parties.

Politico reports:

Condit first met Alvarado-Gil in 2022 after he had failed to make it past the primary election in a race for California Assembly, according to court papers. Alvarado-Gil, who was then running for the state Senate as a Democrat, hired him to run her campaign. After she won, she brought him on as her chief of staff.

Condit alleges the senator then started “grooming” him, sharing intimate details about her marriage, sex life and drug use — including taking ayahuasca and gummies — and asking if he’d ever cheat on his wife.

At one point, the suit claims, the senator told Condit she thought he’d be more like his father, who had been accused of having affairs.

Every imaginable media outlet ran the story of Conduit’s lawsuit against Alvarado-Gil with these headlines:

California state senator’s former staffer sues the lawmaker alleging sexual harassment

Former staffer sues California lawmaker over sexual harassment

California State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil accused of sexual harassment by former employee 

It’s so interesting – the timing – and remembering back to the #MeToo era in the State Capitol when Democrat Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, one of the #MeToo leaders, had sexual harassment allegations filed against her.

We reported on the entire #MeToo cycle noting “Politico and Sac Bee Confuse ‘Misconduct’ and ‘Harassment’ With Latest Allegations Against Asm. Cristina Garcia.”

“Thursday it was revealed that the #MeToo Movement may be compromised by one of its leaders, Democrat Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, after new sexual harassment allegations against her surfaced.”

Politico reported in 2018:

California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia — whose high-profile advocacy of the  #MeToo movement earned her national media notice — is herself the subject of a state legislative investigation in the wake of a report that she sexually harassed and groped a former legislative staffer.

And a Sacramento lobbyist accused Garcia of attempting to grab his crotch.

Garcia became a prominent member of the #WeSaidEnough group of hundreds of State Capitol women who signed a letter protesting harassment – by men. Garcia even told the New York Times that she had been the repeated victim of sexual harassment by men in the Capitol while a legislator.

But look at this headline from the Sacramento Bee:

Assemblywoman leading #MeToo movement at California Capitol accused of sexual misconduct.

Politico’s headline was much the same:

#MeToo movement lawmaker investigated for sexual misconduct allegations

“Misconduct?”

Daniel Fierro “said she (Garcia) cornered him alone after the annual Assembly softball game in Sacramento as he attempted to clean up the dugout. Fierro, who said Garcia appeared inebriated, said she began stroking his back, then squeezed his buttocks and attempted to touch his crotch before he extricated himself and quickly left,” Politico reported.

As I reported,  there was a deafening silence from the Legislature’s Women’s Caucus, and legislative leadership. However, they were vocal on the sexual harassment charges against their male colleagues.

A law firm hired by the Assembly Speaker cleared Garcia of the groping charges, the AP reported. “However, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia is still facing discipline for using vulgar language in violation of the chamber’s sexual harassment policy.”

Vulgar language?

The Sacramento Bee dutifully reported Cristina Garcia cleared of groping in sex misconduct appeal.

Fierro filed a retaliation complaint in 2019 for damages against Garcia, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk Silva, the State Assembly, the Assembly Rules Committee and the State of California, Los Cerritos News reported.

Fierro’s charges include retaliation, retaliation in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, discrimination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, intentional interference with prospective economic relations, defamation, and violations under the whistleblower act.

The California State Assembly investigated the groping allegations by Daniel Fierro against Assemblywoman Garcia. And as quickly as the case was opened looking into the charges, it was prematurely wrapped up, according to the lawsuit.

Will Sen. Alvarado-Gil’s accusations be handled the same way?

On an aside, in 2018, the #MeToo movement attempted to distract with Gubernatorial Candidate, Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen, who was “accused of sliding his foot over to touch a female employee, and coming up behind her in the cafeteria to squeeze her shoulders.” And the headlines were far more accusatory.

The Sacramento Bee headline screamed, Harassment allegations aren’t stopping this candidate for California governor. 

Apparently touching someone’s foot is harassment, but grabbing a guy’s crotch is “misconduct?”

We do not have any inside information on Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil’s accusations, but note how differently Republicans and Democrats are treated by most of the media. Her attorney Ognian Gavrilov told POLITICO the accusations are “without any corroboration of evidence.”

“This is an outlandish lawsuit and we’re going to fight it and we’re going to win it,” he said.

“The Condits are a well-known political dynasty in the Central Valley. Chad Condit’s father, Gary, faced scrutiny for the death of his intern, Chandra Levy, when he was in Congress. The elder Condit was never a suspect and another person was later convicted of Levy’s death,” Politico reported.

Is this a mafia-style message from Democrats to Alvarado-Gil along the lines of “We’ll show you just how we treat defectors?”