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Cain did not sign settlement, accuser's lawyer says
CBS news ^ | 11-04-11 | Jan Crawford

Posted on 11/04/2011 9:21:37 AM PDT by MNJohnnie

The settlement agreement between the National Restaurant Association and a woman who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment was reached in September 1999--and was not signed by Cain himself, according to Joel Bennett, a lawyer for the woman.

Bennett, who has a copy of the settlement agreement, said four people signed it: the woman, two lawyers representing the association and Bennett himself.

Bennett said the agreement was resolved relatively quickly, about two or three months after she complained.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; cain; cainsexualharrass; elections; frontrunner; herbcain; hermancain; joelbennett; martinsmear; politicosmear; pornlitico; romneydirtytrick; rovesmear
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To: altura
By the way, I’ve always said that I will vote for Cain if he is the nominee. You might be amazed at how many people assert that they will not vote for Perry. I’ve explained that there are 4 ways to vote for Obama:

1. Vote for Obama
2. Write in a candidate
3. Vote 3rd party
4. Don’t vote

But they still maintain their stance.

Boy, do I agree with you on that!

People need to think about the consequences of their 'I'll stay home' threats. Even the threat is dangerous.

The country may not survive another four years of a Marxist dictator. It's strong, but I'm not sure even the Founders created the kind of government that could withstand the kind of assault that we're now seeing from this evil, evil man who pretends to be President.

301 posted on 11/04/2011 3:29:54 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Proud Mom of a Bronze Star winner!)
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To: ohioWfan

Was just watching CNN where the kids on the John King show basically concluded that ....there’s nothing to this.

Jeffery Toobin actually came clean and said it was a “good day” for Cain.

Gloria Booger looked like someone had pissed in her cheerios.


302 posted on 11/04/2011 3:32:50 PM PDT by LibsRJerks
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To: MNJohnnie

Get a load of this. Ping your lists! As Mark Levin just said on his radio show, “How did we miss this?”:

APRIL 04/2011

Windy City Times
Gay man files complaint against Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow PUSH
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=31375

In a document filled with stunning allegations, Tommy R. Bennett has filed a complaint with the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations against the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., and the minister’s Chicago-based organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, claiming, among other things, harassment and termination on the basis of Bennett’s sexual orientation.

Rev. Jackson has a long record of support for LGBT rights, including during his runs for U.S. president and his speech at the LGBT March on Washington in 1987. This is believed to be the first time an allegation has come forward claiming he was involved in sexual orientation harassment and discrimination.

Charges

In the complaint, Bennett­who worked at the Rainbow Coalition from July 11, 2007 through Dec. 23, 2009, as the national director of community affairs­says that his sexual orientation was known throughout the workplace primarily because of his side job: being “Aruba Tommy” on the nationally syndicated radio talk program The Tom Joyner Morning Show.

Bennett claims that he experienced discrimination almost immediately after he started the job, saying that Caroline Wiggins, the membership and volunteer coordinator, complained to Jackson that she did not wish to work with Bennett because he is gay. After Wiggins was allowed to work under the field director, Rev. Gregory Seal Livingston, she allegedly said that she did not have to answer to Bennett. (Wiggins is no longer with the coalition. Windy City Times attempted several times to speak with Livingston about the matter, but had no response.) In the complaint, Bennett says that “no investigation or action was taken in response” to his complaining about Wiggins.

However, the most explosive charges revolve around Jackson himself. First, Bennett claims that at an all-staff meeting in 2008, he requested an LGBT-themed table for the national convention­and was flatly denied. When Bennett questioned why there could not be a table, Jackson allegedly “cursed at Mr. Bennett in front of all of the staff, and Rev. Jackson was visibly upset during the rest of the meeting.”

Things allegedly took a more disturbing turn after Bennett also took over the duties of Jackson’s travel assistant where Bennett says he was required to perform “humiliating” tasks. According to the complaint, in May 2008 Bennett was not allowed to accompany Jackson to Tanzania because Jackson was allegedly unhappy with the ways Bennett packed his items.

Bennett also claims that he had to escort women to Jackson’s room and “clean up his room after sexual intercourse with women. Mr. Bennett believes he was forced to do these tasks due to his sexual orientation,” adding that he had to escort women to such places as the Sheraton Hotel in New York and the Wynn Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. Bennett claims that he let Jackson know that he “was uncomfortable cleaning up his hotel rooms, escorting women to his hotel room, being summoned to his hotel room after hours or packing his clothes.”

Things reached an apex later in 2008, when Bennett says he “was summoned to Rev. Jackson’s hotel room” at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel. Bennett claims that he was eventually instructed to apply cream to Jackson, who “had a rash between his legs.” Bennett says that he refused, resulting in Jackson allegedly calling Bennett a “little motherfucker.”

Bennett then states that another time at the same hotel, Jackson summoned him at 1 a.m. to take notes. The complaint states, “When Mr. Bennett arrived, Rev. Jackson was dressed only in his briefs and a v-neck t-shirt.” Bennett alleges Jackson was sexually excited. Asked by Windy City Times how he came to this conclusion, Bennett said, “I could tell by his look. His whole demeanor had changed. His breathing pattern had changed.”

The complaint continues: “Before Mr. Bennett left, Rev. Jackson stated that white folks took the word ‘gay’ and gave the word its own definition. Rev. Jackson further stated that he was a real poor child in North Carolina and his name was first Jesse Burns, and then Jesse Robinson and then he became Jesse Jackson.

“Rev. Jackson stated that he played football and there was a gay high school teacher who took Rev. Jackson under his wings and told him that he needed education to go along with football. Rev. Jackson said, ‘[F]rom that gay teacher, I got a good grade, I got to use his car, I got ten dollars and I got my dick sucked.’ Rev. Jackson said, ‘[T]hat’s not gay, that is surviving.’” Bennett alleges this meant Rev. Jackson wanted sex, but that Bennett then left the room.

Bennett also makes a claim involving an intern. In 2009, said intern reportedly wanted to accompany Bennett one night to Club Escape, a gay nightspot. A month later, the intern allegedly said that Bennett took him to a gay bar and propositioned him, and that he, Bennett and two of Bennett’s friends smoked marijuana, instigating an investigation. Bennett says that he ended up on paid leave and that the drug test came back negative. He also says he never received the findings of the investigation.

The complaint concludes with Bennett saying that he received a letter Dec. 23, 2009, saying that he was being terminated “due to lack of funding.” However, Bennett claims that several people were hired after his termination.

In a demand letter accompanying the complaint, Bennett said he wanted, among other things, $98,300 for back pay, front pay and loss of benefits; $350,000 for emotional distress and punitive damages; and an amendment of Rainbow PUSH’s non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Windy City Times left a message with Nigel F. Telman, a partner at the Chicago branch of the law firm Proskauer Rose and the Rainbow PUSH attorney listed on the complaint’s notice of filing. However, Proskauer Rose’s communications director contacted the newspaper shortly after to say that Telman had no comment on the matter. When asked if Telman even received the complaint, WCT again was told, “No comment.”

Bennett talks

In a recent interview with WCT, Bennett said that he is fully prepared for the possible response from Jackson and/or the Rainbow Coalition, adding, “That’s one of the points I want to make. How many times has this happened to us? It’s like being raped and having it unreported. People are so afraid of these giants in our community. People won’t report it and won’t file lawsuits. So many people are afraid of [Jackson]. I can’t walk in fear like that. So many people are being discriminated against­being laid off with this false pretense of downsizing.”

When asked why he stayed as long as he did, Bennett responded, “Number one, I enjoyed what I did and I thought things would get better. He was really not a bad person to work for; it was the staff he had around him.”

However, of course, Bennett did acknowledge that things disintegrated once he became Jackson’s travel assistant: “[Jackson] used me as a scapegoat because he was dating two women. ... However, because I knew what was going on, he told his family and friends that I wrote a letter [outing one of the girlfriends], which was not true. By doing that, it looked like I was the bad person. At that point, [one of the alleged mistresses] told [Jackson] to get rid of me.”

Bennett said the lowest point for him involved the situation with Clinkscale’s intern. “Clinkscale was the national director of sports. It was the intern’s last day. They said I was out smoking weed with the boy. They did a drug test and the test came back [negative]. They have witnesses who I brought in who said [the intern] was in a group with us. He was just one of those young 24-year-old guys who went to a gay club, enjoyed himself and got scared.”

When asked if he would accept his job back if offered, Bennett initially answered “You know? I probably would,” before amending: “But not under those conditions. I would refuse, as a gay man, to work under … I would starve before I work under homophobic conditions.

“I never applied for travel assistant. I was the national community affairs director. Things didn’t blow up until I had to go his house at 4 a.m. and pack his clothes, buy his underwear, buy his deodorant, get his Viagra and Cialis, and clean his room. That’s when things got nuts.”

Bennett also mentioned Livingston, saying, “When the commission asked Rev. Livingston, ‘How was the atmosphere for Tommy at Rainbow PUSH?, he [said], ‘Very hypocritical.’”

If he had Jackson alone for five minutes and could ask him one question that he had to answer, Bennett said it would be “Why do you let homophobic people work around you at a civil-rights organization?”

Bennett said that his attorney is getting his employee files, adding that he never had an employee evaluation the whole time he was there.

More at Google search:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADRA_enUS399US414&q=windy+city+times+jessee+jackson+jr+accused+of+sexual+harrassment+by+man


303 posted on 11/04/2011 3:33:58 PM PDT by Matchett-PI (Obamageddon, Barackalypse Now! Bam is "Debt Man Walking" in 2012 - Rush Limbaugh)
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To: LibsRJerks

LOL! Hell has just frozen over!


304 posted on 11/04/2011 3:35:31 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Proud Mom of a Bronze Star winner!)
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To: ohioWfan

Geez, are any of you watching NBC Nightly News? They’re going all out sleeze on this. Had Bennett on saying there were multiple incidents and drinking and overt sexual overatures, etc. and settlement $.

Guess they haven’t read or are refusing to acknowledge CBS’ more positive take on it.

Geez, still going on and on and on.


305 posted on 11/04/2011 3:41:57 PM PDT by bgill (The Obama administration is staging a coup. Wake up, America, before it's too late.)
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To: bgill
I guess they didn't learn much from Dan Rather's self-inflicted wounds for not giving up on his little lie fest on CBS. (Apparently someone at CBS did).

NBC is irrelevant in every sense of the word.

306 posted on 11/04/2011 3:45:14 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Proud Mom of a Bronze Star winner!)
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To: sodpoodle
Because you don't need the parties to execute a strictly-HR decision. NRA HR was probably one person, and that one person probably squared it with whoever amounted to the NRA's CFO, likely as a pro forma item in the monthly meeting, that would most certainly not involve NRA executives.
307 posted on 11/04/2011 3:57:17 PM PDT by StAnDeliver (/)
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To: MNJohnnie

Any talk of whio his running mate will be?


308 posted on 11/04/2011 4:22:39 PM PDT by guitarplayer1953 (Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to GOD! Thomas Jefferson)
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To: trubolotta

I defended Cain against the harrassment charges. But I didn’t feel that Politico was attacking ME with the story. Maybe I’m just heartless.


309 posted on 11/04/2011 4:44:26 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: MNJohnnie

Provide ONE example where I “knowingly misrepresent” what Cain said. It should be easy for you. You’ve attacked me 5 times now, and each time I have asked to to provide an example, and each time you have responded with a differently worded attack on me, and not ONCE in all the time you have attacked me have you offered a SINGLE PIECE of evidence.

I stand behind what I have written. If you have a problem with something, identify it. I won’t hold my breath waiting for you to back up your slander with any evidence.


310 posted on 11/04/2011 4:47:59 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: ohioWfan

I don’t have a candidate. But Rick Perry already endured freepers calling him a homosexual and a drunkard. And he endured the media blaming him for a rock with the n-word on it.

And he endured Herman Cain calling him insensitive to blacks with no evidence, and he endorsed Herman Cain blamining his campaign for this leak, and Block calling Perry’s campaign “dispicable”.

Meanwhile, as to your claim that Cain handled this just fine, here’s the latest from Block:

““If we had to do it all over again, we would have come out on Monday and said this stuff is baseless, that there are no facts in the article and the Politico never spoke with the women, so end of story, let’s move on. We wouldn’t have let it turn into this kind of feeding frenzy, spinning our wheels.”

I totally agree with Block. That’s what I’ve said all along — there was nothing to the charges, the politico piece was annoying but easily answered, they should have just pointed out the facts and moved on.


311 posted on 11/04/2011 4:52:00 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: kevao

I said on tuesday what Cain should have done. Today, Block has his assessment, which is much like my suggestion from Tuesday:

“If we had to do it all over again, we would have come out on Monday and said this stuff is baseless, that there are no facts in the article and the Politico never spoke with the women, so end of story, let’s move on. We wouldn’t have let it turn into this kind of feeding frenzy, spinning our wheels.”

Cain was in the dark as to some aspects, but he was a party to the incidents, so if he WANTED he could have simply told his side, and trusted that the truth would win out over whatever lies he was afraid the women had said.

But really, he just had to wait for the story to come out, and then issue a statement like the one Block makes above.

Block also said: For future reference, to campaigns that study this unconventional campaign, remember the lesson: Respond on Day One, don’t let it spin for a couple days,” he adds. “This is a cesspool. Even if you don’t want to swim, you have to swim once you’re in the water.”

Which is a good point — but other campaigns don’t have to study there campaign to learn this, the experienced professionals know this, because they’ve been through it. Sometimes they screw it up, and suffer.


312 posted on 11/04/2011 4:57:06 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT
You lost Charles. You will now have to try and elect Perry on the issues rather then these baseless smears

Statement from the National Restaurant Association

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2802677/posts

Cain accuser attorney: Client sees ‘no value’ in revisiting issue

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2802657/posts

This is Cain winning. Complete abject surrender to Cain by the smear bots. They were offered the chance to defend their accusations in the open and the smearbots ran.

Now the question remains, who shopped the smear around to Politico? I suspect Romney and Rove are the authors. Both of the them have a history of these sort of sleazy political tactics

313 posted on 11/04/2011 5:08:44 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (Giving more money to DC to fix the Debt is like giving free drugs to addicts think it will cure them)
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To: Husker
This story continues because instead of denying the reports of an accusation of harrassment, Cain admitted to it. The MSM was ready to pounce on him if he had denied it.......

Since he didn't, all they have left is to try to uncover the obviously prurient and salacious details of the alleged incident behind the harrassment charge, hoping that will bring him down......and that's gonna fall flat too.

In the end, the story will die out but Cain will forever be remembered as a serial sexual harrasser............

314 posted on 11/04/2011 5:27:02 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
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To: stormer

Hey homie, come on over and join in the discussion. Since you’ve been a firm Cain detractor, I’m sure everyone here is waiting for your input......


315 posted on 11/04/2011 5:29:38 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
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To: CharlesWayneCT
I said that between you and me it was over.

But you obviously needed the last word.

And you had it.

316 posted on 11/04/2011 6:21:37 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Proud Mom of a Bronze Star winner!)
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To: MNJohnnie

The Restaurant Association took over the defense of Cain, as lawyer Bennett probably knows. Lawyer Bennett seems to have an affinity for publicity. Considering his client doesn’t want to go public, and he himself doesn’t have a copy of the agreement, I don’t understand why he’s so anxious to keep the matter going.


317 posted on 11/04/2011 7:00:02 PM PDT by popdonnelly (Socialism isn't going to work this time, either.)
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To: bgill

How does Bennett know all this? And why is he still talking about a case that was settled, particularly when the client he represented doesn’t want to talk about it? He’d better watch himself.


318 posted on 11/04/2011 7:02:18 PM PDT by popdonnelly (Socialism isn't going to work this time, either.)
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To: ohioWfan

I thought we moved on to a different discussion, the new one you brought up that I responded to. I’m sorry if I misunderstood.


319 posted on 11/04/2011 7:42:29 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: CharlesWayneCT
Read it again. It was a conclusion to our discussion.

We don't agree.

Good luck to your candidate. I hope he/she never goes through the hell that the leftist media put Cain through this week.

320 posted on 11/04/2011 7:56:06 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Proud Mom of a Bronze Star winner!)
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