Harassment Claim Against Hernandez Found Lacking
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LOS ANGELES — Meeting in private, the Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday with an investigators’ report that City Councilman Mike Hernandez did not sexually harass a former aide.
Instead, the investigators’ report led the council to believe that the relationship between the councilman and the woman was consensual and that her attorneys should be so advised, according to council sources.
The council in June created a panel to investigate charges of wrongdoing by elected officials. The Hernandez investigation was the first for the panel.
The sexual harassment claim still can be lodged in court, but City Hall sources said they believe a potential lawsuit now would be ineffective.
The claim, made by former field deputy Pauline Mendoza, alleged repeated harassment by the councilman. But sources said she consented to a relationship with Hernandez, which took place during the time that the lawmaker was using drugs and alcohol and prior to his arrest in August 1997 for felony cocaine possession.
Hernandez is currently involved in drug and alcohol recovery programs.
Personnel director Bill Fujioka, along with council members, refused to comment on the closed meeting.
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