A former chief of staff for a California senator who recently left the Democratic party for the Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the senator on Thursday, alleging that the senator sexually harassed her, created a hostile work environment and fired her in retaliation for refusing his sexual advances.
The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, alleges that for much of 2023, state Sen. Marie Alvarado Gil (R-Jackson) “engaged in a volatile, controlling and sexually dominant abuse of authority and power over her chief of staff, Chad Condit.”
“This was a sexually-based quid pro quo relationship that involved unwanted advances and sexual favors, as well as discipline and displays of power,” the lawsuit states, which also names the California State Senate as a defendant.
Alvarado Gil's lawyer denied the allegations.
“A disgruntled former employee concocted a wild story without evidence in order to obtain financial gain. We expect the senator to be fully exonerated of any wrongdoing based on false allegations of financial motive,” attorney Ognian Gavrilov said in a statement provided to The Times by the Senate Republican Caucus.
Alvarado Gil was elected in 2022 as a Democrat in a heavily Republican district in the rural northeast Central Valley. Her election was seen as a fluke of California's top-two primary system, with a crowded field of Republican candidates. It divided the Republican Party That paved the way for two Democrats to advance to the general election despite receiving only one vote on the June ballot. Received a total of 41% of the votesAlvarado Gil won in November of that year.
After criticizing Democratic leadership, Alvarado Gil switched parties in August and joined the state Senate Republican caucus.
Condit served as Alvarado-Gil's campaign manager in 2022 before joining her state office as chief of staff.
According to the lawsuit, early in his tenure, Alvarado Gil “began to flirt with Plaintiff and share intimate details of Plaintiff's personal life, including his dating, divorce and extramarital affairs.” He also openly discussed “his own vices, including sex, drugs, ayahuasca use and gummy pills,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Alvarado-Gil repeatedly made inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments to Condit and used his position to exert control and power over him. For example, in March 2023, Alvarado-Gil allegedly asked Condit his opinion of “throuples” and whether he and his wife would be willing to accept one.
She also allegedly made comments implying he was “open to a sexual relationship with her” after his father, former Congressman Gary Condit, was accused of having an affair with Washington intern Chandra Levy. Levy was murdered in 2001 and Condit's father was initially investigated for her murder in a scandal that rocked the nation months before the 9/11 attacks. Her death remains unsolved.
According to the lawsuit, the sexually explicit comments eventually escalated into physical violence.
Chad Condit alleges that during a business trip to Inyo County, Alvarado Gil demanded that he demonstrate his loyalty by “performing cunnilingus on her.” According to the lawsuit, Condit and Alvarado Gil were driving and stopped to use the restroom. When Condit returned to the car, “she pulled down her pants and said, 'I want you to demonstrate your loyalty by kissing me.'”
“After months of dominance and submission, Plaintiff became paralyzed and acted without thinking, from which point Alvarado Gil established his ability to control Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Condit allegedly engaged in sexual acts with her on multiple occasions.
“The last time Plaintiff performed oral sex on Alvarado Gil at his request, Plaintiff injured her back while twisting and turning in the confined space of the car seat,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff later went to the doctor, who determined that her injuries were more severe, including three herniated discs in her back and a collapsed hip joint.”
Condit subsequently underwent hip surgery due to the injury.
Condit did not respond to text messages and calls from The Times, and his lawyer could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit claims Condit's “personal and professional relationships have been permanently altered, and his employment record and opportunities in public service have been irreparably damaged and will never be restored.”
Condit's allegations go beyond sexual activity, and also include allegations that Alvarado Gil made him do chores, pick up and drop off her daughter and take care of her dog.
According to the lawsuit, by the late summer of 2023, Sen. Condit had begun to be subservient to Alvarado-Gil. The senator and her deputy chief of staff, a childhood friend, went to the Senate Clerk's Office “to have Plaintiff fired as punishment and retaliation,” according to the lawsuit. Condit then received a “fake disciplinary letter alleging inappropriate conduct” that Alvarado-Gil had allegedly engaged in against him.
The lawsuit also alleges that Alvarado-Gil became close to Condit's wife and “attempted to exert a controlling influence” over the couple's life, including hiring her for his March 2023 campaign and having them go to the same hairdresser. That summer, after Condit allegedly began turning down Alvarado-Gil's advances, she visited Condit's home and “lied to his wife about Plaintiff being dating someone and subjected Plaintiff to harassment.”
According to the lawsuit, Alvardo Gil texted Condit in December to tell him he had been fired and tried to get him to resign by offering to hire his wife instead.
The lawsuit also alleges that Senate Clerk Erika Contreras “blindly accepted Alvarado Gil's retaliatory actions against Plaintiff and condoned her mistreatment of Plaintiff.”
Contreras acknowledged the lawsuit in a statement but said the Senate had not been served with the complaint.
“We are in discussions with legal counsel regarding our next steps,” Contreras wrote. “While the Senate takes all complaints very seriously, we cannot comment on matters involving pending litigation.”
