The ex-chief of staff of a California state senator, who recently switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, initiated legal proceedings against her on Thursday. The lawsuit claims that she engaged in sexual harassment towards him, intentionally created a hostile work environment, and terminated his employment as a form of retaliation for declining her sexual advances.
The complaint, submitted in the Sacramento County Superior Court, alleges that over a significant portion of 2023, state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil (R-Jackson) “participated in unpredictable, domineering, and sexually controlling 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.
An attorney representing Alvarado-Gil refuted the allegations.
“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 Democratic in 2022 in a congressional district that is predominantly Republican and covers a rural area located northeast of the Central Valley. Her election was mostly considered as an anomaly in California’s top-two primary system, as the huge number of Republicans in the race split the GOP vote in June and allowed two Democrats to progress to the general election, albeit they only garnered a combined 41% of the vote. That November, Alvarado-Gil became victorious.
Upon criticizing Democratic leadership, Alvarado-Gil made a political party change in August and became a member of the Republican caucus in the state Senate.
After serving as Alvarado-Gil’s campaign manager in 2022, Condit subsequently became the chief of staff at her state office.
The lawsuit claims that from the beginning of her term, Alvarado-Gil engaged in the practice of “grooming plaintiff and divulging personal and intimate information” about her life, such as her romantic relationships, divorces, and instances of marital infidelity. The complaint alleges that Alvarado-Gil publicly discussed her vices, which encompassed engaging in sexual activities, using the drug ayahuasca, and consuming gummies.
The complaint alleges that Alvarado-Gil routinely made inappropriate and sexually provocative remarks towards Condit, and used her position to assert authority and control over him. In March 2023, Alvarado-Gil purportedly inquired of Condit his perspective on “throuples” and whether he and his wife would be receptive to one.
Furthermore, she purportedly made remarks that implied he might “be receptive to a sexual relationship with her” due to the well-known allegations of his father, former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, engaging in an extramarital affair with Washington intern Chandra Levy. In 2001, Levy was killed, and the older Condit was initially under investigation for her murder in a prominent controversy that engulfed the nation in the months leading up to the 9/11 attacks. He was never officially implicated as a suspect, and subsequently, another guy was found guilty of her murder in a case that was thereafter dismissed. The mystery surrounding her death persists.
The complaint alleges that the sexually explicit remarks escalated into physical aggression.
During a work trip to Inyo County, Chad Condit claimed that Alvarado-Gil insisted that he demonstrate his loyalty to her by physically descending below her. Per the lawsuit, Condit and Alvarado-Gil were operating a vehicle and were stopped in order to use the restroom. Upon Condit’s return to the car, she had her trousers lowered and instructed, “I want you to kiss it as a symbolic gesture of 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.
According to the complaint, Condit purportedly engaged in the sexual act on multiple occasions.
“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.”
In response to these injuries, Condit subsequently underwent hip surgery.
The lawsuit further claims that Alvarado-Gil engaged in actions to establish a stronger relationship with Condit’s wife and exert influence over the couple’s life, such as recruiting Condit’s wife for her fundraising drive in March 2023 and continuing to use the same beautician. Later that summer, following Condit’s purported rejection of Alvarado-Gil’s approaches, the senator visited his residence and deceitfully informed his wife that the plaintiff was in a relationship that would give him emotional hardship.
The complaint alleges that in December, Alvardo-Gil sent Condit a text message informing him of his termination and that she attempted to persuade him to leave by proposing to employ his wife.
The lawsuit further alleges that Secretary of the Senate Erika Contreras “unquestioningly supported Alvarado-Gil’s retaliatory acts against the plaintiff and approved her mistreatment of him.”
Reference: The Los Angeles Times in Yahoo! News