Daughter Of Late Politician Mervyn Dymally Suing Carson Mayor For Sexual Harassment
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The daughter of a ground-breaking Democratic lawmaker claims in a lawsuit that the mayor of Carson tried to force himself on her during a work-related trip to Washington D.C.
Lynn Dymally, daughter of the late Democratic politician Mervyn M. Dymally, alleges Albert Robles – who is still a member of the WRD board and became mayor of Carson last month -- made unwanted and aggressive sexual advances during a district-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C. in November 2013.
The Los Angeles Superior Court suit filed Tuesday, which also names the district as a defendant, alleges sexual battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Dymally is seeking unspecified damages against Robles, who has been leading efforts to build a football stadium in Carson to lure the Raiders and Chargers.
The lawsuit alleges that Dymally, Robles and others were returning to their hotel rooms when the defendant "forced himself" on her and "was so aggressive that he backed Ms. Dymally into her room against her will and force."
Robles allegedly began to grope Dymally and tried to remove her clothes. Robles attempted to have sex with her, but ended up passing out on top of her, according to the lawsuit.
"Ms. Dymally was able to escape the situation, but was left emotionally traumatized," her suit states.
That same night, Robles tried to touch Dymally in a sexual way again when she returned to her room, but she was able to push him away, according to the lawsuit.
When she and Robles returned to Los Angeles, he began to harass and bully her during district board meetings, according to the suit.
In a statement released to sportscaster Fred Roggin, Robles said he was "shocked and thoroughly disgusted by Ms. Dymally's irresponsible and false allegations. I absolutely deny each and every allegation of inappropriate conduct.
"I know that as an elected official I am a target for political attacks. However, Ms. Dymally has gone too far. The consequences of her false and abhorrent allegations reach far beyond me and deeply wound innocent people, such as my wife, children and parents.
"It's a shame that Ms. Dymally would stoop so low and hurt innocent people and abuse the judicial system to simply satisfy a personal political vendetta against me for not supporting her initial appointment to the Water Replenishment District and her election," Robles said in his statement.
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