The California Senate agreed to pay $310,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleged that the upper house and former Sen. Tony Mendoza fired and retaliated against her for reporting an allegation that the lawmaker sexually harassed her co-worker.
The accusation was the first in a wave of complaints against Mendoza, initially reported by the Sacramento Bee, that ultimately led the Artesia Democrat to resign from office in 2018 and prompted the Senate to begin to overhaul its internal policies for handing sexual harassment claims.
The new settlement with Adriana Ruelas, Mendoza’s former legislative director, marks the Senate’s second six-figure payout since the #MeToo movement helped expose a culture of harassment at the state Capitol.
“I am profoundly proud of her for having the courage to step forward and speak truth to power,” said Micha Star Liberty, an attorney for Ruelas. “Without her coming forward and demanding an investigation occur, one may never have been done. I sincerely hope that this resolution can close a very dark chapter where legislative employees were afraid to come forward and report misconduct for fear of retribution.”
Read the full story on LATimes.com.