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California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and his brother filed to dismiss a lawsuit from a former press secretary who alleges retaliation for reporting violations.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and his brother Rick Rivas have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against them, calling the claims “false and malicious.”
Cynthia Moreno, the former press secretary for Speaker Rivas, filed the lawsuit in September, alleging she was punished for reporting illegal campaign activity and misuse of taxpayer resources.
The lawsuit came after she was fired from her job for allegedly making inappropriate sexual comments to employees.
Moreno said the legislature’s own Workplace Conduct Unit backed up her harassment complaint against a former staffer, but instead of support, her duties were stripped.
Moreno also accused the Rivas brothers of using campaign funds, lobbying favors and legislative deals for personal gain.
She described her firing as blatant retaliation for speaking out.
“Cynthia Moreno violated the Legislature’s sexual harassment rules, which the independent Workplace Conduct Unit investigated and substantiated,” said Elizabeth Ashford, campaign spokeswoman for Speaker Rivas. “Instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she’s lashing out at Speaker Rivas and Rick Rivas with false and malicious accusations. Moreno presents no facts to support her claims, which don’t meet even the most basic legal standards. This isn’t a real case, it’s a sloppy political attack masquerading as a pleading, and it threatens to undermine the Assembly’s commitment to taking sexual harassment seriously. We can only hope the Court acts quickly and decisively to dismiss all her claims.”
Moreno released her own statement, saying: “Instead of taking these allegations seriously, and addressing them by instituting serious personnel reforms that protect Assembly employees and treat them with dignity and respect, Robert Rivas continues to employ procedural tactics to try and duck his responsibility to his employees instead of behaving like an ethical leader.”
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