SACRAMENTO, California — State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil’s former chief of staff has sued her for alleged sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, claiming in a lengthy complaint that the Central Valley Republican pressured him into performing sex acts and then fired him when he resisted.
Chad Condit 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.
The suit comes a month after Alvarado-Gil switched parties. She declared on Fox News in August, “The Democratic Party of today, in California, I do not recognize it.”
Alvarado-Gil’s Senate office did not immediately return a request for comment. Ognian Gavrilov, the attorney representing Alvarado-Gil, 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.