Past allegations of sexual harassment by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain have resurfaced, with Cain being accused of having demonstrated suggestive sexual behavior towards at least two former employees during his tenure as CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Two women are said to have complained of Cain’s sexual misconduct, only to be asked to leave the company and sign confidentiality agreements in exchange for payment.
According to Politico http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67194_Page2.html , which broke the story, a former board member for the National Restaurant Association recalled events surrounding one of the women’s complaints, stating that, “She was offered a financial package to leave the association, and she did. What I took offense at was that it was clear that rather than deal with the issue, there was an effort to hush it up. She was offered a way out to keep quiet.”
Political pundits such as Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell have criticized the campaign and Cain for mishandling the allegations. Instead of forthrightly dealing with the issue, Cain and his campaign have changed their comments concerning the allegations from the time the story broke throughout the news cycle on Monday.
