Lawmaker accused of sexual harassment by former staffers

In the latest development in a salacious legal saga in Sacramento, a California senator this week filed a countersuit against her former chief of staff — who alleged that she was sexually harassed him while he worked for her – claiming he was involved in the 2001 murder and disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy.

Sen. Marie Alvarado Gil (R-Jackson) claimed that former staffer Chad Condit once warned her that he “knows how to make people disappear,” according to court documents filed Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Condit, according to the lawsuit, was referring to his personal involvement in the unsolved murder of Levy, who worked for Condit’s father, former Rep. Gary Condit (D-Ceres), with whom she also allegedly had an affair.

According to the lawsuit, the senator first began investigating the Levy case after Condit’s alleged comments.

Attorneys representing Condit called her allegations “meritless” and “baseless” in an email to The Times.

“This appears to be another attempt by the Senator to retaliate against Mr. Condit and further harm him and his family for daring to stand up to her and expose the Senator’s misconduct,” wrote Arya Rhodes, an attorney on the case. . “We look forward to conducting a vigorous investigation into Senator Alvarado-Gil’s conduct and state of mind and bringing this matter to trial as quickly as possible.”

Gary Condit was not a suspect in the Levy case. That was another man convicted for her murderbut in 2016 a judge has denied those allegations after deciding that prosecutors could “no longer prove the murder case” against him beyond a reasonable doubt.

Alvarado Gil’s lawsuit is the latest allegation in a damning back-and-forth involving the senator and Chad Condit, who filed a lawsuit in September in Sacramento County Superior Court alleging that Alvarado Gil was had ‘engaged in erratic practices’ for much of 2023. , controlling and sexually dominating abuse of authority and power” against him.

Condit was Alvarado Gil’s chief of staff from the time she was elected in December 2022 until he was fired nearly a year later. Alvarado Gil claims in the lawsuit that Condit was fired from his position due to “misconduct.”

The lawsuit also alleged that Condit additionally made comments that if she were a man, he would “kick her ass.” She also alleged that he had deadly weapons, including firearms, while working for her.

Alvarado Gil claims she “began to fear for her life and for the safety of her family” after Condit became “increasingly unstable and unpredictable.”