Carson, California Mayor Sued for Sexual Harassment

Sacramento, CA (Law Firm Newswire) July 13, 2015 – Albert Robles, mayor of the Southern California city of Carson, is being sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual battery, gender violence and sexual harassment. Should the charges be proven, the fall-out could be catastrophic.

The plaintiff in this explosive case is Lynn Dymally, the daughter of the late Mervyn Malcolm Dymally, a California Democratic politician who served in the California State Assembly and the California State Senate, as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of California and in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dymally, a board director for the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), is suing the Water Replenishment District as well.

“The statement of claim for the lawsuit alleges that during a business trip to Washington, D.C. in 2013 to attend a water-related conference, Mayor Robles aggressively attempted to force himself on Dymally, tried to tear her clothes off, attempted to initiate sexual intercourse and in failing to do so, passed out on top of her,” said respected Sacramento sexual harassment attorney, Deborah Barron. “His first attempt at unwanted intimacy was not his last during the trip.”

During all the commotion, Dymally kept trying to push Robles away and get him out of her room at the hotel where they were staying. It had come as an unpleasant surprise to Dymally to discover that Robles, who had booked the rooms, had asked for adjoining suites. He did try to enter her room through the adjoining door, but was not successful.

The mayor’s actions on their return to California allegedly bordered on the edge of vindictive punishment and followed a pattern of bullying and harassment at subsequent WRD meetings. His actions prompted Dymally to ask others to keep him away from her during meetings.

The mayor subsequently issued a statement denying the allegations and suggesting the lawsuit is political retaliation for his temerity in voting against Dymally’s appointment to the WRD in 2013 and instead of supporting her for re-election, voting for her challenger. He told the Los Angeles Times, “All these allegations are false,” and further intimated that Dymally may be attempting to quash his bid to lure the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders to Carson by building a new stadium.

Of interest are the many questions being asked about how the $1.7 billion stadium would be financed — an issue also highlighted by a city staff report. “That aside, the he said versus she said aspects of this case are very troubling,” Barron said. “One has to wonder why someone with the lineage Ms. Dymally has would make up such a story. Furthermore, if Robles was acting out at other WRD meetings, others would have witnessed such actions.” There may be evidence yet to be gathered from 2013 conference goers about what they may have seen, heard or been told by Dymally or Mayor Robles.

Sexual harassment allegations are always fairly difficult to prove conclusively, but not completely impossible to try, unless there is blatant evidence that proves the case, such as a video, eyewitnesses, other victims, or a harasser with a known prior history for similar actions or a recording.

“I have a great deal of experience dealing with sexual harassment cases and if you are in a situation such as this, I would like to meet with you,” Barron said. “You need to know your rights and that no matter what the situation may be it is never acceptable for a person with authority over you to sexually harass you.”

Learn more at http://www.lawbarron.com/