San Diego County supervisor hit with sexual assault lawsuit

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A lawsuit by a former transit agency employee accuses San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The lawsuit comes days after Fletcher ended his state Senate campaign to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse.

Grecia Figueroa accuses Fletcher of kissing her and groping her against her will, as well as stalking her on social media, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Fletcher issued a statement Wednesday acknowledging a relationship but broadly denying the allegations without specifying them, the newspaper said.

Figueroa, a former TV journalist, worked at the county’s Metropolitan Transit System from 2019 until she was terminated last month. Fletcher was chair of its board of directors from 2019 until he resigned Tuesday.

The lawsuit says Figueroa was let go on the same day that Fletcher had announced he was running to succeed Sen. Toni Atkins in representing the 39th District.

The civil litigation filed Tuesday includes text message exchanges to support her allegations, according to the Union-Tribune.

Fletcher said he was committed to repairing damage to his marriage to Lorena Gonzalez, the former state Assembly member who now serves as chief officer of the California Labor Federation.

“I have not done the things they are alleging, but I did violate the basic trust and loyalty of my marriage and set a terrible example for our children,” he said.

Neither Figueroa nor her attorney immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

Fletcher is a Marine Corps veteran who has openly talked about the horrors he witnessed in combat, as well as PTSD and the difficult childhood he suffered.