San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s former communications director, Irene McCormack Jackson, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the mayor, she and her attorney, Gloria Allred, said at a news conference Monday.
“I am coming forward today to lay the blame at the feet of the person responsible, Mayor Bob Filner,” McCormack Jackson said after detailing what she described as the mayor’s harassment of her. “He is not fit to be mayor of our great city. He is not fit to hold any public office.”
McCormack Jackson is the first woman to come forward publicly to accuse Filner; in recent weeks he has faced anonymous allegations that he harassed “numerous” women. Allred said that Filner had asked McCormack Jackson to “work without her panties on,” placed her in a headlock and told her that he wanted to consummate their relationship, among other incidents of alleged harassment.
“Women were viewed by Mayor Filner as sexual objects or stupid idiots,” said McCormack Jackson, a former reporter who resigned from her position as communications director in June. “His behavior made me feel ashamed, frightened and violated.”
“For some of what we stated, there were witnesses,” added Allred, who called on Filner to resign.
Filner responded to McCormack Jackson’s allegations in a statement late Monday.
“I do not believe these claims are valid,” Filner said. “That is why due process is so important. I intend to defend myself vigorously and I know that justice will prevail.”
Filner has resisted calls for his resignation and maintained that he is not guilty of sexual harassment since the first anonymous allegations were brought forward. Rather, Filner said that he “failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me.”
Allred said that she has not yet been in touch with Filner’s counsel. She encouraged other women who have been harassed by Filner to come forward. “We think that silence only favors the wrongdoer and not the victims,” Allred said.
Allred, a well-known California lawyer, has a history of taking on high-profile cases, including representing Sharon Bialek, who accused then-GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment. Allred also represented the family of O.J. Simpson’s late wife Nicole Simpson and one of Tiger Woods’s mistresses, Rachel Uchitel, among others.