ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Alaska faces accusations he sexually stressed a former assistant whilst he was once a borough mayor.
The lawsuit filed Friday accuses Charlie Pierce of “consistent undesirable bodily touching, sexual remarks, and sexual advances,” the Anchorage Day-to-day Information reported.
The case didn’t display up in a web based courtroom data gadget Saturday. The lady’s Anchorage-based lawyer, Caitlin Shortell, stated in an e mail to The Related Press it was once filed within the Kenai Awesome Courtroom, and she or he anticipated a pass judgement on to be assigned Monday.
“When an elected professional abuses their energy and place to sexually harass public servants, they should be held responsible,” Shortell stated.
The AP does now not usually establish alleged sufferers in sexual harassment instances.
Pierce is one in every of 4 applicants operating for governor in Alaska, and all gave the impression at a discussion board Saturday morning in Anchorage.
“I haven’t any feedback on long term litigation,” Pierce instructed the AP following the talk.
He stated he additionally had no plans to finish his marketing campaign only a few weeks ahead of the Nov. 8 election. “I’ll be within the race,” he stated.
The lawsuit additionally names the Kenai Peninsula Borough south of Anchorage as a defendant within the case, claiming the native govt failed to give protection to the lady. She additionally claims the borough supplied no option to file harassment or discrimination with out concern of reprisal.
An e mail in quest of remark was once despatched to the borough’s lawyer, Sean Kelley.
In step with the lawsuit, the lady was once Pierce’s assistant for roughly 18 months, till June 2022.
Pierce introduced in August he would surrender in September to concentrate on his marketing campaign for governor. The borough meeting later launched a remark mentioning Pierce was once requested to imagine voluntarily resigning after an worker made what had been deemed to be credible claims of harassment in opposition to him.
Within the lawsuit, she claims Pierce touched her breast, made sexual remarks, falsely imprisoned her in his non-public place of job, kissed her neck and face, requested questions on her intercourse existence and made undesirable and unsolicited embraces and massages.
The borough has paid two different former workers a mixed $267,000 in settlements for separate court cases in opposition to Pierce, the Day-to-day Information reported.
In a single, the borough paid former human assets director Sandra “Stormy” Brown $150,000 in a agreement after she claimed in a lawsuit that Pierce fired her after she instructed him she have been recognized with terminal breast most cancers. She claimed gender discrimination, incapacity discrimination and making a adverse paintings atmosphere.
The borough additionally paid $117,000 to settle a criticism from a next human assets director if the worker agreed he would now not make “additional allegations of ‘unlawful acts’ by way of Mayor Pierce” and rescind his allegations of bullying, the Anchorage newspaper reported.