Cain's Accuser Received $35,000 in Severance Pay
A woman who accused Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain back in the late 90s received a year’s salary of $35,000 from the National Restaurant Association in severance pay.
At the time Cain was the NRA’s chief executive. The claim was made by three people with direct knowledge of the payment, according to the New York Times.
The woman said Cain made her feel uncomfortable there. She was one of two who accused Cain of sexual harassment, which led to their departure and severance agreements from 1996 to 1999, his time at the organization.
Lawyer Joel P. Bennet, representing one of the two women who made the claims against Cain told The Washington Post on Tuesday that his client wanted out of the non-disclosure agreement she signed upon leaving the NRA, where Cain allegedly sexually harassed her.
“It is just frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants, and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement,” Bennett told the Washington Post.
But Tuesday night, Bennet told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, that the woman was, “mulling over what she wants to do” and was undecided about whether or not she wants to go public. “She’s naturally been upset about it,” he told CNN.
Despite her lawyer’s back and forth claims, the woman accusing Cain of sexual harassment is reluctant to talk about the incident in public, The Associated Press reported, citing an anonymous person close to the situation.
The anonymous person said that no decision has been made about asking the NRA to release the woman from a confidentiality agreement that was part of her settlement and that the incident becoming public has been very unsettling to the woman.
However, her lawyer, Bennet, did contact the association on Wednesday asking to release his client from the confidentiality agreement so she can talk openly about her allegations and responds to Cain’s claims that the complaints were “totally baseless and totally false,” the AP reported.
The pressure on Cain continues to rise as reporters, governors, and leaders continue to ask questions regarding the alleged episodes of sexual harassment.
"What are the facts?" asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown. "If you have a confidentiality agreement that keeps the public from finding out something that the public is interested in knowing the facts, you ought to go on and get the facts out."
"Herman Cain's interest is getting this behind him," added Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman.
After Cain’s speech about health care in Virginia Wednesday morning, reporters huddled around him asking about the accusations of sexual harassment he made in the past. Cain refused to say whether he would have the association remove the non-disclosure agreement that has stopped the women from talking about the allegations.
In the video, Cain is seen walking out with a group of doctors and tries to steer the subject away from the controversy.
“Don’t even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, okay? Don’t even bother,” Cain is seen saying in video released by Politico.
Getting angered by the reporter’s questions Cain says in a loud voice, “What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me!”
Campaign manager Mark Block said he would answer questions posed “when it’s appropriate.”
Despite the controversy, Cain has high hopes that his candidacy will survive.
"There is a force at work here that is much greater than those that would try to destroy me and destroy this campaign," said Cain told supporters in Washington, according to Politico. "That force is called the voice of the people. That's why we are doing as well as we are."