A man who served as chief of staff for a California state senator is now suing her for alleged sexual harassment, claiming she abused her power, coerced him into performing oral sex to prove his “loyalty” and later fired him when he refused her advances.
Chad Condit was hired to work for state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil in July 2022 and became her chief of staff five months later, according to the lawsuit filed in Sacramento County on Sept. 5. She began asserting her power over him by forcing him to help with tasks for her children and grooming him by making intimate and sexual comments, the suit says.
Condit is the son of Gary Condit, the former U.S. representative who became known for an alleged affair with intern Chandra Levy, who disappeared in 2001 and was later found dead in Washington, D.C. Gary Condit was ruled out as a suspect in her killing and later denied having an affair with her.
“Alvarado-Gil commented to plaintiff several times that she assumed plaintiff would be like his father — insinuating that he should be open to a sexual relationship with her,” Chad Condit’s lawsuit says.
His attorney, in a statement Wednesday, called for an “unbiased investigation” of Alvarado-Gil, who represents a district covering part of California’s Central Valley. In August, Alvarado-Gil left the Democratic Party to become a Republican.
Og Gavrilov, Alvarado-Gil’s attorney, said in a statement to HuffPost that the lawsuit is “an outlandish story, presented without evidence, to get a payday.”
“As far as Plaintiff’s counsel comments go, Plaintiff’s counsel better have some real evidence to back up these outlandish claims and platitudes because I will embarrass them at trial, ” Gavrilov said.
The lawsuit said Alvarado-Gil also hired Condit’s wife to work on her campaign, a move his attorneys said was to insert herself into a position of control over the couple’s lives.
The lawsuit cited one alleged incident when Alvarado-Gil demanded Condit “show her loyalty” by having him perform an oral sex act on her during a trip to Inyo County. The suit said that at this point, Condit was “numbed and acted without thinking” due to months of Alvarado-Gil “creating a dominant-submissive relationship.”
“Alvarado-Gil appeared to enjoy her power and demanded this show of ‘loyalty’ on several occasions,” the lawsuit said, adding that there was no sexual intercourse.
While performing oral sex on the senator in a car, Condit suffered three herniated disks in his back and a collapsed hip injury, according to the lawsuit. His attorney said he was “in a position of anxiety and feeling pressured by the Senator.”
Condit was fired in December 2023, allegedly in retaliation for refusing to continue accepting Alvarado-Gil’s advances, but the lawmaker continued to target him and his family with “unwanted hostile behavior and lies,”
according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys say Condit “showed the signs and symptoms of abuse, becoming numb, emotionally detached,” according to the lawsuit.
“The fact that he is a man does not take away from the shame at being put into
submission by his boss,” the lawsuit said.
His attorneys said Wednesday that the California Senate is currently conducting an internal investigation into their accusations and that they urge “a thorough, unbiased investigation to ensure accountability and uphold the principles of a safe and respectful workplace for all employees.”
“Her inappropriate sexual behavior towards Mr. Condit, and predatory fixation on his family, is conduct that no employer should engage in, and it is unbecoming of a state Senator,” their statement said.
State legislative officials did not immediately respond to HuffPost about the existence of an investigation.
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