A fourth woman came forward Monday with allegations of sexual harassment by Herman Cain, revealing at a press conference that the Republican presidential candidate groped her and attempted to force her to give him oral sex.
Sharon Bialek, who worked for a branch of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) before being terminated in 1997, said that the harassment occurred during a July 1997 trip to Washington, D.C., where she met with Cain about a possible job opportunity.
Bialek said that as she and Cain sat in his car after they had dinner at an Italian restaurant, he put his hand on her leg under her skirt and reached for her genitals.
“He also grabbed my head and brought it toward his crotch,” Bialek said, adding later that Cain asked her, “You want a job, right?”
Bialek said Cain halted his advances after she asked him to stop. She did not notify the NRA about the incident and did not file any lawsuit or claim.
Bialek appeared with media-savvy lawyer Gloria Allred, who has also represented such high-profile clients as Tiger Woods’ mistress Rachel Uchitel, a stripper who said she received lewd messages from disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner and an illegal immigrant who claimed Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman knowingly employed her for nine years.
Allred described Bialek as a registered Republican, college graduate and single mother of a 13-year-old son.
Politico first reported last week that at least two former NRA employees accused Cain of sexual harassment when he was head of the trade association in the 1990s. One of the accusers released an anonymous statement through her lawyer last week, saying Cain committed a “series of inappropriate behaviors,” but declined to give specific details.
Both women received settlements from the NRA as a result of the claims.
Cain has acknowledged knowing of claims made by one of the woman but has called the allegations “baseless.”