2 Women Back Claims of Harassment by Holden

Two women who once worked for City Councilman Nate Holden defended another former aide Wednesday who has accused him of sexual harassment. One said she quit in disgust over Holden’s treatment of younger female staffers. The other said she, too, was fondled and subjected to demeaning remarks.

Betty Pleasant-Miller, who until August was Holden’s press secretary, said she was not a target of harassment but watched as other women were subjected to sexual comments and unwanted advances.

The second woman, who asked that her name not be made public, said that Holden and other male staffers called her “sugar” or “darling” and that on more than one occasion, Holden rubbed her thigh after asking her to stand next to his chair. She often had to fend off hugs and attempts to massage her neck and back, she said.

“I hated it,” said the woman, who left her job after about six months. “Every day was hell.”

She said that she quit because she could no longer tolerate the atmosphere in Holden’s City Hall office. She acknowledged, however, that she never made a formal complaint against him and thinks of him as a friend who can help her career.

Holden, through a spokeswoman, denied both women’s allegations. He said he considers Pleasant-Miller a disgruntled ex-employee who resigned in August after she was threatened with firing.

Earlier Wednesday, Holden had presided over a packed press conference at City Hall, where he repeated his vow that he would repair his reputation by filing a defamation of character lawsuit against Carla Cavalier, 32.

Cavalier this week filed a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint against Holden with the Fair Employment and Housing Department, asking for $500,000 in damages for four years of alleged verbal and physical mistreatment. She resigned as a Holden field deputy last spring after she was sent a letter on April 3 saying she would be fired if she did not resign. Cavalier could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

At his press conference, Holden repeated his contention that he is the victim of lies and a politically motivated attack at a time when he is considering running for mayor of Los Angeles.

He contends that Melanie Lomax, Cavalier’s lawyer, is seeking revenge on him because he did not attend a City Council meeting this summer when the Council voted on whether Lomax should be appointed to a city commission. The appointment was not approved.

But a Los Angeles police officer who often worked with Cavalier while she was Holden’s field deputy said she confided in him and told him of her allegations last spring, shortly before she left Holden’s office.

“I encouraged her to bring it out in public, but she felt she couldn’t win against a powerful politician like Nate Holden,” said Sgt. Dominic Licavoli of the Rampart Division.

Licavoli stressed that he had no knowledge of whether Cavalier’s accusations were true, but he described her as “credible” and a person who cared deeply for the citizens of Holden’s 10th District.

That was in sharp contrast to the picture painted of Cavalier at Holden’s press conference Wednesday by his senior field deputy, Geneva Cox.

Cox said Cavalier was faced with resignation or firing because of repeated complaints from constituents about her demeanor.

“Cavalier’s body language (and) attitude were not conducive to good relationships,” Cox said. She would not describe what she meant by “body language.”

Cox said she concluded from conversations staffers had during the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas--who also was accused of sexual harassment--that Cavalier “had a negative attitude about men.”

Holden said he hired Cavalier as a secretary only because he knows her family, she was out of work and he admired her military background.

“I don’t think she could type,” Holden said. “But I recognized the hardship she was being subjected to.” After she was promoted to a field deputy, he said, “she couldn’t get in step.”

Lomax said Wednesday that she expected Holden to attack Cavalier. She maintained that other women corroborated Cavalier’s allegations in calls to her office, but she would not name the women.

She also contended that Holden was named specifically by more than one woman in a recent anonymous survey of city employees on sexual harassment conducted by the city’s Commission on the Status of Women. She demanded that the city immediately make those surveys public.

Times staff writer Greg Krikorian contributed to this story.