San Diego County Supervisor and former San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Chair Chair Nathan Fletcher is facing a lawsuit from former MTS Public Information officer Grecia Figueroa, alleging sexual assault and battery, and harassment.
This comes after Fletcher recently announced abandoning the Senate run to leave the State of California to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma, and alcohol abuse. The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court late Tuesday alleges Fletcher groped Figueroa on two occasions and pursued a sexual relationship with her for months.
Fletcher is married to Former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez.
According to the complaint, Figueroa was called into a closed-door meeting on Feb.6 with MTS Chief Human Resources Officer Jeff Stumbo and was abruptly fired without warning, or an opportunity to speak with her supervisor. On that same day, Fletcher announced his official candidacy for a seat in the California State Senate.
Figuroa said she believes MTS terminated her employment because she was being sexually harassed by Fletcher.
In a statement released Wednesday, Fletcher’s attorney Danielle Hultenis Moore said the former colleague whom Fletcher said he had consensual interactions with is attempting to obtain millions of dollars from the couple.
“We have asked the authorities to investigate these efforts and are pursuing our own legal response. The allegations are false and are designed to drive headlines and not tell the truth. It is also notable that they only include one side of the communications. The simple truth is that Ms. Figueroa pursued my client, their interactions were consensual and Mr. Fletcher does not and never had authority over her employment. We will aggressively fight this issue in court and the full record will show the truth," Moore said in a statement.
In response to the lawsuit, Fletcher said “ "Last year, I made a terrible mistake engaging in consensual interactions with someone outside my marriage. I made clear it could not continue or advance and desperately hoped I could leave this mistake in my past. However, this individual and an attorney demanded millions of dollars from me and my family with the threat of not only embarrassment but a willingness to lie about the circumstances and nature of the interactions.”
Fletcher continued: “I have not done the things they are alleging, but I did violate the basic trust and loyalty of my marriage and set a terrible example for our children. Lorena and I have already started to work through this, and that work must continue after I complete treatment for trauma and alcohol abuse. My wife has done nothing but love me completely and without reservation and the blame for allowing myself to be in this situation rests entirely on my shoulders. I will spend my life working to repair the damage done to my family."
The complaint alleges that beginning in 2021, Fletcher began “stalking'' her social media account, then sought to meet with her privately on several occasions, two of which she claims he assaulted her.
The complaint alleges Figueroa “was intimidated by the dynamic Fletcher had created, and she feared she would lose her job if anyone found out she was being pursued sexually by the senior-most ranking official at MTS.”
In the complaint, Figueroa said she “felt pressured to reciprocate Fletcher's advances because she knew he had authority, as both a career politician and as Chair of the MTS Board, to destroy her career at MTS and to potentially humiliate her publicly if she made him angry.''
MTS is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, alleging alleges sexual harassment, failure to prevent sexual harassment and retaliation, and whistleblower retaliation.
In a statement, MTS General Counsel Karen Landers said Fletcher resigned from his position as board chair Tuesday night. San Diego City Councilman Stephen Whitburn will assume the position in the interim.
“MTS is aware of the lawsuit from a former MTS employee and has engaged an outside law firm to conduct an investigation. MTS does not comment on pending litigation,'' the statement read.
