A former employee of the National Restaurant Association’s educational foundation accused presidential contender Herman Cain on Monday of making an aggressive sexual advance 14 years ago, for the first time putting a name and face with claims of harassment that have plagued Cain for more than a week.
The accusations from Sharon Bialek, a single mother from Chicago, threw Cain’s campaign into another day of turmoil when she described how he allegedly sexually harassed and groped her while the two sat in a car together in Washington. At the time of the alleged incident, Bialek said, she had recently lost her job at the restaurant association, where Cain was chief executive, and was seeking his help finding work.
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When she told him to stop touching her, she said, Cain replied: “You want a job, right?”
“I was very surprised and shocked,” Bialek said, choking up as she spoke to reporters at a news conference in Manhattan. “I said, ‘What are you doing? You know, I have a boyfriend. This isn’t what I came here for.’ “
Cain’s campaign quickly issued a statement denying “all allegations of harassment” and accused Bialek’s celebrity lawyer, Gloria Allred, of “bringing forth more false accusations” against the Republican candidate.
The stark details of Bialek’s account added a new dimension to a scandal that has dominated the news since Politico first broke the story on Oct. 30. Her allegations moved the controversy beyond the realm of misunderstandings or jokes that several Cain operatives have suggested are at the root of other harassment claims. Bialek said Cain forcefully touched her, putting his hand up her skirt, reaching for her genitals and pushing her head down toward his crotch.
Allred said that Bialek had come forward not for personal gain but to give a “voice” to the other women who alleged harassment, and that Bialek had chosen not to sell her story or file a lawsuit.
Bialek had told two people – a former boyfriend and a businessman in Chicago – her story at the time of the alleged incident, Allred said. She held up two pages that she said were sworn affidavits from the two men supporting Bialek’s account.
Bialek was born and raised in Chicago and has lived there most of her life, according to Allred. She is a Republican, a stay-at-home mother of a 13-year-old son, and a college graduate who has worked as host of a cooking show, an account manager at Revlon and a director of corporate development at the Easter Seal Society, Allred said.
Three other women have alleged that Cain harassed them at the National Restaurant Association, which he led from 1996 to 1999. He had previously served as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. The association reached settlements with two of the women, providing a payment for each when they left their jobs. In at least one instance, Cain was not a party to the agreement and admitted no guilt, according to the organization.
A third woman told the Associated Press last week that she also was harassed but did not file a complaint.
Joel Bennett, an attorney for one of the women, released a statement from his client Friday claiming she was harassed over a span of months. He said Monday that Bialek’s account is remarkably similar to his client’s experiences, although he would not elaborate.
“I consider it corroborating evidence,” Bennett said.
“Our client is very brave to have come forward,” Allred said. “She knows that stepping out into the light, she will face public scrutiny.”
It is unclear whether Bialek’s account will hurt Cain’s popularity among Republican voters. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday showed that Cain’s status alongside former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the front of the Republican field was intact.
Debra S. Katz, a Washington lawyer specializing in workplace discrimination, said the behavior described by Bialek is “coercive and physical” and cannot be explained away as a misinterpretation. “This is abuse of power. This is sexual battery.”
“I really didn’t want to be here today and would not have been here were it not for the other women who have alleged sexual harassment,” Bialek said at the end of her remarks Monday.
She then addressed Cain directly: “Just admit what you did. Admit you were inappropriate to people. And then move forward.”
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