Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay ($35k)

NY Times ^ | November 01, 2011 | JIM RUTENBERG, JEFF ZELENY and MIKE McINTIRE

[Steelfish]

Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay By JIM RUTENBERG, JEFF ZELENY and MIKE McINTIRE November 1, 2011

WASHINGTON — The National Restaurant Association gave $35,000 — a year’s salary — in severance pay to a female staff member in the late 1990s after an encounter with Herman Cain, its chief executive at the time, made her uncomfortable working there, three people with direct knowledge of the payment said on Tuesday.

The woman was one of two whose accusations of sexual harassment by Mr. Cain, now a Republican candidate for president, led to paid severance agreements during his 1996-99 tenure as the association’s chief. Disclosure of the cases has rocked Mr. Cain’s campaign just as he was surging in polls.

Further challenging Mr. Cain, a lawyer for the second woman called on the restaurant association to release her from a confidentiality agreement signed as part of her settlement, raising the prospect that she could publicly dispute Mr. Cain’s account of what happened. The lawyer said the confidentiality agreement had left her unable to respond to Mr. Cain’s dismissal of the complaints against him as a “witch hunt” or to his denials of any inappropriate behavior toward the women.

“He’s basically saying: ‘I never harassed anyone. These claims have no merit,’ ” said the lawyer, Joel P. Bennett of Washington, who represented the woman in her initial agreement. “And I’m sure my client would have a comeback to that.”

The precise nature of the encounters between Mr. Cain and the two women remained murky. He has said over the past two days that he joked with one of the women about her height, but he has not addressed what happened with the first woman — the one who received the $35,000 payment.....

[Cicero]

“Three people with direct knowledge of the payment said”

Hmm. Could those three people be . . .

JIM RUTENBERG, JEFF ZELENY and MIKE McINTIRE?

Or is it just a coincidence that the Old Gray Lady assigned three reporters to this blockbuster case?

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

They just want to try Cain in the court of public opinion!!!

Herman, stop talking about this crap!!!
__________________________________________________________

EXACTLY!

[upchuck]

Disclosure of the cases has rocked Mr. Cain’s campaign just as he was surging in polls.

Uh-huh. You talk it NY Slimes. Let's see where we are in three weeks.

STILL no sources except for the lawyer's name.

[Jay Santos CP]

I rather doubt Cain was involved in any real sexual harassment. These claims are all too common in business today. And businesses have made a huge mistake over the decades these have been frivolously brought forward, by making a practice of paying them to go away.

These bogus allegations cost American corporations plenty of money and wasted time. Think our industrial competitors deal with this stuff, China? One more cost of doing business in the US.

[Smokin' Joe]

Jesse Jackass would be envious.

Nah. He probably wouldn't pick up the phone for less than seven figures.

[CaptainK]

“He’s basically saying: ‘I never harassed anyone. These claims have no merit,’ ” said the lawyer, Joel P. Bennett of Washington, who represented the woman in her initial agreement. “And I’m sure my client would have a comeback to that.”

Cain should insist that Mr Bennett revel the amount they originally sued for.

[Longbow1969]

That's the bottom line there. She settled for cheap back when he was an unheard of CEO. Now that he's a presidential candidate her story is worth a whole lot more. The story hasn't changed, just the monetary value of it.

Yup, and as someone else pointed out in this thread, if these women were attacking a liberal Democrat they'd be treated as gold digging trailer trash - but as long as it is a conservative Republican the media will give them every benefit of the doubt.

Still, it is what it is. This is the media environment we have been in for a very long time. There is a double standard, but screaming about it isn't going to help. This story is going to be fully aired, and Cain may as well get ahead of it and just say he is fine with these women airing their complaints. If the claims are frivolous, Herman is going to come out stronger than ever. If there is something seedy about the complaints which make Cain look bad it will hurt him - but either way we are going to find out about it.

[newnhdad]

so true. I had to deal with something similar about the same time too. one of my guys was accused of “sexual harassment” which eventually ended up being something the women thought she overheard of half of the phone conversation, which had nothing to do with her. (the guy was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone in the parking garage portico)
She then filed formal charges against a gay guy who could not hurt a fly. The guy sounded like a leaky tire and commented on her shoes which sent her crying. She was dismissed when she struck the HR girl and got thrown out of the office. She filed a lawsuit with the intent of getting a settlement. I had to speak before the lawyers on the record about her first failed attempt to file a grievance.
it ended up that she was on pregnancy hormone treatments and she was “overly sensitive”.

She tried to end two careers because she was on hormones.

This experience made me start looking a new job. Soon after I turned down a great paying position because there were too many women in the office. I eventually went to work for a company with a lot of men, a lot of travel and no drama.

[FR_addict]

$35,000 sounds like a lot less than a year's salary. According to her attorney she was a graduate from an Ivy League school and she was only making $35,000 in Washington D.C. in the late 90s?

[MaxMax]

Look how hard they're fighting, there must be a huge MSM payoff on the table
for this BS. Also, if she gets paid for breaking the agreement I would think
that damages to the company would be everything she gets.

This is nothing but a pure evil political hit job for Zero and a nice Profit for the lacky.
Wait and see I guess.

[oldernittany]

Clinton entered into an out-of-court settlement, agreeing to pay Paula Jones and her attorneys a total of $850,000.

[FR_addict]

Sounds like this attorney is violating the agreement signed and accepted by his client.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

The lawyer is getting serious, serious money to bust her out of her agreement. Count on it.

[Mister Da]

It is significant that these payments were SEVERANCE pay, which means the women were severed from the company - fired.

[occamrzr06]

Pssst, she wants to get paid again. Residuals, don’t ya know!

[Redmen4ever]

You are exactly right. Herman Cain should ask the NRA to release the two women from the confidentiality agreement. I presume the NRA would insure that it, the association, would be protected in the matter. Whether this means they can or can’t release the women, or what would be the conditions the women would have to agree to, that would be for the NRA to decide.

I don’t know if it is fair for Cain to offer his opinions on the matter since the women can’t speak. Doesn’t sound fair. All we really know is this: the NRA decided to pay two female workers to go away. Therefore, whatever it was, it couldn’t have been a whole lot, otherwise Cain would have been paid to go away or simply fired. But, this is bothersome because we don’t know what it was. And, there’s two of them.

[Venturer]

It was cheaper to pay her the 35 Grand than to go to court. She knew it and they knew it.
She counted on it. about 20 Grand after she paid her ambulance chaser.

Now she thinks she can get more from the Globe.

[muawiyah]

The lawyer is a CLINTONISTA. This was cooked up with Bill. They went to school at the same time at Georgetown.

[eyedigress]

Legally she can’t. 35,000 even in 1998 is a skill wage but nothing more.

[muawiyah]

This is a government town. That wasn’t all that much money, but it wasn’t chump change either. This place ends up considered wealthy on the strength of a very broad mid-income situation.