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Cain Faces a New Accusation
Third Worker at Restaurant Association Raised Concerns
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By ALICIA MUNDY
A third woman who worked at the National Restaurant Association raised concerns about what she took to be unwanted sexual advances by Herman Cain during the time he was the group's president more than a decade ago, according to a person with knowledge of the events.
Mr. Cain, who is now a leading Republican presidential candidate, invited the woman to his apartment in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Va., near the trade group's headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to a person who worked at the restaurant trade group whom the woman consulted shortly after the incident.
Mr. Cain, who headed the trade group from 1996 to 1999, has said repeatedly he never sexually harassed anyone and that accusations against him are "baseless." The Cain campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the third woman.
News of the woman's concerns came as Mr. Cain tried for a third day to keep his presidential campaign on course, amid reports that two other employees of the trade group had accused him of sexual harassment in the late 1990s.
Both women received financial payments as a result of their claims, according to people familiar with events.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cain suggested the matter would soon be behind him. In a speech to the Northern Virginia Technology Council, he said his campaign had been ignored and then ridiculed.
"The third phase is, they try to destroy you," he said. After that, "they accept you."
Joseph Fassler, a former chairman of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s, said he was never aware that any employee accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment, and added that the trade group has been a "very professionally run organization."
The third woman turned down Mr. Cain's invitation to go to his apartment, according to the person she consulted at the time.
The woman didn't follow up on advice that she file a complaint with the trade group's human-resources department, this person said.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that it had talked with a woman who had been asked by Mr. Cain to a corporate apartment in the 1990s and had considered the invitation an unwanted sexual advance.
The woman also said that Mr. Cain made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures, according to the news organization. The woman talked on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation, the AP said.
Mr. Cain has been an unexpected force in the presidential contest, surging in public-opinion polls of GOP voters. The harassment allegations have been a distraction for him since they were first reported Sunday night by the Politico website.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cain's campaign manager accused Texas Gov. Rick Perry's staff of leaking word of the allegations. "Rick Perry and his campaign owe Herman Cain and his family an apology," the Cain aide, Mark Block, said on Fox News.
Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Mr. Perry, said that "no one from our campaign was involved in this, period."
An automated poll conducted Tuesday, after the news media had widely reported the allegations, showed continued support for Mr. Cain in South Carolina, the third state to vote for the nomination.
In the Rasmussen survey, Mr. Cain led the GOP field with 33% support from likely GOP voters, ahead of Mitt Romney, with 23%, and Newt Gingrich, with 15%.
The poll surveyed 770 likely GOP voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus four points.
Still, new information has arisen each day about Mr. Cain's time at the restaurant association.
The Wall Street Journal, citing someone familiar with the events, has reported that one woman who received a financial payment said that Mr. Cain had invited her to his room during a trade conference.
On Wednesday, a lawyer representing the other woman who received a payment asked the restaurant trade group to lift a confidentiality provision so that she could respond to how Mr. Cain has publicly characterized her complaint.
The lawyer, Joel P. Bennett, said the confidentiality clause was part of the financial settlement arising from her complaint.
The restaurant association said it referred Mr. Bennett to its outside law firm.
A Republican pollster who worked with the restaurant group, Chris Wilson, told Oklahoma City radio station KTOK Wednesday that he had witnessed one encounter between Mr. Cain and a staff member.
"This occurred at a restaurant in Crystal City, and everybody was aware of it," Mr. Wilson said, according to the station's own account of the interview.
He added that "so many people were aware of what took place, so many people were aware of her situation."
He declined to give more details.
Mr. Wilson's firm now does polling for an outside political-action group supporting Mr. Perry's campaign.
Mr. Fassler, the former restaurant association chairman, who is 69 years old, said that he and Mr. Cain, who is 65 years old, are part of a generation with different social norms than younger workers.
"Comments and statements that were made to employees 30 years ago that were complimentary were taken as they were meant—complimentary," Mr. Fassler said. But today, "what one thinks is harassment may not be what another one thinks" is an uncomfortable advance.
—Neil King Jr., Danny Yadron and Janet Adamy
contributed to this article.
Third Worker at Restaurant Association Raised Concerns
Article
Comments (6)
MORE IN POLITICS & POLICY »
Save
↓ More
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By ALICIA MUNDY
A third woman who worked at the National Restaurant Association raised concerns about what she took to be unwanted sexual advances by Herman Cain during the time he was the group's president more than a decade ago, according to a person with knowledge of the events.
Mr. Cain, who is now a leading Republican presidential candidate, invited the woman to his apartment in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Va., near the trade group's headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to a person who worked at the restaurant trade group whom the woman consulted shortly after the incident.
Mr. Cain, who headed the trade group from 1996 to 1999, has said repeatedly he never sexually harassed anyone and that accusations against him are "baseless." The Cain campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the third woman.
News of the woman's concerns came as Mr. Cain tried for a third day to keep his presidential campaign on course, amid reports that two other employees of the trade group had accused him of sexual harassment in the late 1990s.
Both women received financial payments as a result of their claims, according to people familiar with events.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cain suggested the matter would soon be behind him. In a speech to the Northern Virginia Technology Council, he said his campaign had been ignored and then ridiculed.
"The third phase is, they try to destroy you," he said. After that, "they accept you."
Joseph Fassler, a former chairman of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s, said he was never aware that any employee accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment, and added that the trade group has been a "very professionally run organization."
The third woman turned down Mr. Cain's invitation to go to his apartment, according to the person she consulted at the time.
The woman didn't follow up on advice that she file a complaint with the trade group's human-resources department, this person said.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that it had talked with a woman who had been asked by Mr. Cain to a corporate apartment in the 1990s and had considered the invitation an unwanted sexual advance.
The woman also said that Mr. Cain made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures, according to the news organization. The woman talked on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation, the AP said.
Mr. Cain has been an unexpected force in the presidential contest, surging in public-opinion polls of GOP voters. The harassment allegations have been a distraction for him since they were first reported Sunday night by the Politico website.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cain's campaign manager accused Texas Gov. Rick Perry's staff of leaking word of the allegations. "Rick Perry and his campaign owe Herman Cain and his family an apology," the Cain aide, Mark Block, said on Fox News.
Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Mr. Perry, said that "no one from our campaign was involved in this, period."
An automated poll conducted Tuesday, after the news media had widely reported the allegations, showed continued support for Mr. Cain in South Carolina, the third state to vote for the nomination.
In the Rasmussen survey, Mr. Cain led the GOP field with 33% support from likely GOP voters, ahead of Mitt Romney, with 23%, and Newt Gingrich, with 15%.
The poll surveyed 770 likely GOP voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus four points.
Still, new information has arisen each day about Mr. Cain's time at the restaurant association.
The Wall Street Journal, citing someone familiar with the events, has reported that one woman who received a financial payment said that Mr. Cain had invited her to his room during a trade conference.
On Wednesday, a lawyer representing the other woman who received a payment asked the restaurant trade group to lift a confidentiality provision so that she could respond to how Mr. Cain has publicly characterized her complaint.
The lawyer, Joel P. Bennett, said the confidentiality clause was part of the financial settlement arising from her complaint.
The restaurant association said it referred Mr. Bennett to its outside law firm.
A Republican pollster who worked with the restaurant group, Chris Wilson, told Oklahoma City radio station KTOK Wednesday that he had witnessed one encounter between Mr. Cain and a staff member.
"This occurred at a restaurant in Crystal City, and everybody was aware of it," Mr. Wilson said, according to the station's own account of the interview.
He added that "so many people were aware of what took place, so many people were aware of her situation."
He declined to give more details.
Mr. Wilson's firm now does polling for an outside political-action group supporting Mr. Perry's campaign.
Mr. Fassler, the former restaurant association chairman, who is 69 years old, said that he and Mr. Cain, who is 65 years old, are part of a generation with different social norms than younger workers.
"Comments and statements that were made to employees 30 years ago that were complimentary were taken as they were meant—complimentary," Mr. Fassler said. But today, "what one thinks is harassment may not be what another one thinks" is an uncomfortable advance.
—Neil King Jr., Danny Yadron and Janet Adamy
contributed to this article.
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