Ex-Mayor Bob Filner not out of the Soup

SAN DIEGO (CN) - Bob Filner's resignation as mayor of San Diego hasn't ended his legal problems; another city employee has accused him in court of sexual harassment - also of sexual battery.

Filner resigned in August less than a year into his first term as mayor, after three women publicly accused him of sexually harassing and groping them. He pleaded guilty in October to false imprisonment and battery involving three women.

Filner, 71, a Democrat, was an eight-term congressman from San Diego before he ran for mayor.

Irene McCormack Jackson sued him in Superior Court in July, and the ensuing furor, which included press conferences with three women who said Filner had groped them, drove Filner from office.

Now a former manager in the city's Parks and Recreation Department has accused him of sexual battery, gender violence and sexual harassment.

Stacy McKenzie, manager of Manager of Mission Bay Park, says in her lawsuit that she met Filner in April at the Clairemont Days event at North DeAnza Cove in Mission Bay.

Filner wasted no time, and there was nothing subtle about it, says McKenzie, who has worked for the city for 32 years.

He asked if she had a boyfriend or husband, and when she told him she was divorced, Filner told her, "Whenever I see a beautiful woman, I have to go over and talk to her," according to the complaint.

Here is Filner's technique, according to the lawsuit:

"Filner asked McKenzie if she would go to lunch with her boss, at which point Filner grabbed McKenzie's hands with a firm grip and held her 8 inches away, and told her, 'Just to make his clear, this is not a business lunch. This is a date. ... I am asking you out on a date.'

"McKenzie wriggled away from Filner, and walked away from him across the entire v enue, and began speaking to two other city employees.

Filner came up behind McKenzie, and put her in a headlock; Filner put his right arm all the way around McKenzie's neck and put it on her left shoulder, rubbing her left arm, while his elbow rested on her breasts.

"Filner asked the other two city employees, 'Isn't she great?'

"Filner told the other two city employees, 'I am mentoring (McKenzie). I am thinking of making (McKenzie) employee of the day, what do you think?'

"Filner then said to all three women, 'Just to let you know, I like to get really close to my city employees.'" (Parentheses in complaint.)

After this encounter, McKenzie says, she avoided City Hall meetings for two months, "to avoid any contact with Filner," and "avoided answering her phone for two weeks."

She seeks punitive damages and costs.She is represented by Daniel Gilleon.

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