The San Diego City Council will sue Mayor Bob Filner to recover costs for a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him. The group voted 9-0 to ask the mayor to pay damages and attorney fees, should the city be found liable.
The lawsuit against Filner was filed by his former communications director, Irene McCormack Jackson. She sued the mayor and the city of San Diego on July 22, alleging the mayor demanded kisses, asked her to work without underwear, and told her he wanted to see her naked.
City Attorney Jan Goldsmith announced the San Diego City Council’s decision to sue the mayor, notes CBS News, explaining, “If Bob Filner engaged in unlawful conduct and the city is held liable, he will have to reimburse us every penny the city pays and its attorney fees.”
The decision by the council was made after a closed-door session on Tuesday. Filner apparently requested the city to cover his legal fees as well, a request that was not granted.
Seven other women have come forward since Jackson, offering their accounts of the San Diego mayor’s alleged advances, which included touching and forcible kisses, notes The Huffington Post.
The city’s lawsuit, filed in San Diego Superior Court, adds, “The City of San Diego maintains a zero tolerance policy as to sexual harassment and sexual harassment is not within the course and scope of employment.”
Residents, the Council, and fellow Democratic party members have all called for Mayor Bob Filner’s resignation. However, the 70-year-old announced last Friday that he will enter two weeks of “intensive” therapy at the beginning of August. While he may not resign on his own, two petitions to recall Mayor Filner have been started already.
Bob Filner is a former 10-term congressman and is less than eight months into a four-year term as mayor. However, that term may never be served.
Do you think San Diego is right to sue its mayor over the recent sexual harassment allegations?