California state senator sued by former chief of staff for alleged sexual harassment, retaliation

The former chief of staff of a California state senator who recently left the Democratic Party to become a Republican filed a lawsuit against her on Thursday alleging that she sexually harassed him, created a hostile workplace and fired him in retaliation for rejecting her sexual advances.

The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, claims that for much of 2023, state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil (R-Jackson) “engaged in erratic, controlling, sexually dominating abuse of authority and power” against her chief of staff, Chad Condit.

“This was a sex-based quid pro quo relationship of unwelcome advances and sexual behaviors coupled with punishment and flexing of power,” according to the lawsuit, which also names the California state Senate as a defendant.

Alvarado-Gil’s lawyer denied the accusations.

“A disgruntled former employee has fabricated an outlandish story, presented without evidence, to get a payday. We expect that the Senator will be fully cleared of any wrongdoing of these bogus, financially motivated claims,” attorney Ognian Gavrilov said in a statement provided to The Times by the Senate Republican Caucus.

Alvarado-Gil was elected as a Democrat in 2022 in a staunchly red district spanning a rural region northeast of the Central Valley. Her election was seen largely as a fluke of California’s top-two primary system, after the crowded field of Republicans divided the GOP vote in June and paved the way for two Democrats to advance to the general election despite having received only a combined 41% of the vote. Alvarado-Gil won that November.

She switched political parties in August and joined the Republican caucus in the state Senate after criticizing Democratic leadership.

California

California lawmaker switches party to join GOP, criticizes Democratic leadership

California state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil switched from Democrat to Republican as her rural district northeast of the Central Valley has moved toward the GOP.

Aug. 9, 2024

Condit was Alvarado-Gil’s campaign manager in 2022, and then joined her state office as chief of staff.

The lawsuit alleges that early in her tenure, Alvarado-Gil began “grooming plaintiff and sharing personal and intimate details” of her life, including her dating life, divorces and marital infidelity. Alvarado-Gil openly talked about “her vices,” according to the complaint, “which included sex and using the drug, ayahuasca, and taking gummies.”

According to the complaint, Alvarado-Gil consistently made inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments to Condit, and used her position to exert dominance and power over him. In March 2023, for example, Alvarado-Gil allegedly asked Condit his opinion about “throuples,” and whether he and his wife would be open to one.

She also allegedly made comments that insinuated he would “be open to a sexual relationship with her” because his father, former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, famously was accused of having an affair with Washington intern Chandra Levy. Levy disappeared in 2001, and the elder Condit was initially investigated for her disappearance in a scandal that consumed the nation in the months before the 9/11 attacks. He was never formally a suspect, and another man was convicted of her killing in a case that was later dismissed. Her death remains unsolved.

The sexually explicit comments eventually turned physical, according to the complaint.

At one point during a work trip to Inyo County, Chad Condit alleged, Alvarado-Gil demanded he show his allegiance to her “by having him go down on her.” Condit and Alvarado-Gil were driving, according to the lawsuit, and pulled over to use the restroom. After Condit returned to the car, “she had her pants pulled down and said, ‘I want you to kiss it and prove your loyalty.’”

“After months of creating a dominant-submissive relationship, plaintiff was numbed and acted without thinking and it went from there with Alvarado-Gil establishing her ability to dominate him,” the lawsuit states.

Condit performed the sexual act on several occasions, the complaint alleges.

“During the last occasion where plaintiff performed oral sex as demanded by Alvarado-Gil, Plaintiff suffered a back injury while performing in a car seat with his body having to twist and contort in the confined space of the car,” according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiff later went to the doctor and discovered that the injury was more severe, and that plaintiff had suffered three herniated discs in his back and a collapsed hip.”

Condit later underwent hip surgery for his injuries.

Condit did not return a text message or call from The Times, and his attorneys could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit claims that Condit’s “personal and professional relationships were forever altered, and his employment record and opportunities in public employment are irreparably damaged and will never be the same.”

Condit’s complaint extends beyond sexual favors, and includes allegations that Alvarado-Gil used him to run errands, shuttle around her daughter and take care of her dog.

By late summer 2023, Condit had started distancing himself from Alvarado-Gil’s alleged advances, according to the lawsuit, which said that the senator and her deputy chief of staff, a childhood friend of hers, went to the secretary of the Senate “to get plaintiff fired as punishment and retaliation.” He was later issued a “bogus disciplinary letter with accusations of inappropriate behavior” that Alvarado-Gil allegedly made against him.

The lawsuit also alleges Alvarado-Gil took steps to get closer with Condit’s wife and “insert herself into a position of control” over the couple’s life, including hiring Condit’s wife on her campaign in March 2023 and going to the same beautician. Later that summer, after Condit allegedly started rejecting Alvarado-Gil’s advances, the senator went to his house “and falsely told his wife that plaintiff was seeing someone to cause him distress.”

In December, the lawsuit claims that Alvardo-Gil texted Condit that he had been fired, and that she tried to get him to instead resign by offering to hire his wife.

The lawsuit also claims that Secretary of the Senate Erika Contreras “blindly accepted Alvarado-Gil’s retaliatory actions against plaintiff and ratified her abuse of him.”

In a statement, Contreras acknowledged the lawsuit but said the Senate has not been served.

“We are in discussion with counsel to assess next steps,” Contreras wrote. “The Senate takes all complaints incredibly seriously, but is unable to comment on matters involving pending litigation.”