Good Bye Herman Cain Your A Candle in the Wind

'Herman Cain put his hand up my skirt': Single mother goes public to accuse GOP favourite of sexual harassment

• First woman to speak publicly said she wanted Cain to come clean
• Sharon Bialek claims he said, 'You want a job don't you?'
• Said he upgraded her hotel suite and took her to dinner
• Gloria Allred said she was 'disgusted' by his behaviour

By Rachel Quigley
Last updated at 10:44 PM on 7th November 2011

The fourth woman to accuse Herman Cain of sexual harassment became the first to go public with her claims today accusing him of being 'aggressive' and 'sexually inappropriate' towards her. 
Mother-of-one Sharon Bialek, from Chicago, told a press conference in New York that when she went to the presidential candidate for help and advice about getting a new job in July 1997, he 'put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch'.
When she asked him what he was doing he replied: 'You want a job don't you?'

Speaking out: Sharon Bialek gave details to a packed room in New York about the moment Herman Cain put his hand up her skirt and pushed her head to his crotch

Famed attorney: Gloria Allred called Cain's actions 'disgusting' and asked him to own up to what he has done to all of the women who have come forward

The single mother, who worked for the National Restaurant Association under Cain from 1996 to 1997, made an appeal to the embattled nominee saying: 'I really didn't want to be here today, but I want you, Mr Cain, to come clean. Just admit what you did. Admit you were inappropriate to people...and then move forward.
'Mr Cain, I implore you, Make this right.'
Cain's office immediately released a statement after the press conference saying: 'Just as the country finally begins to refocus on our crippling $15 trillion national debt and the unacceptably high unemployment rate, now activist celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is bringing forth more false accusations against the character of Republican front-runner Herman Cain.
'All allegations of harassment against Mr Cain are completely false. Mr Cain has never harassed anyone.
'Fortunately the American people will not allow Mr. Cain's bold '9-9-9 Plan', clear foreign policy vision and plans for energy independence to be overshadowed by these bogus attacks.'

You want a job don't you?: A fourth woman came out today claiming she was sexually harassed by Herman Cain, the first to speak publicly

Disgusted: Before introducing her client, Gloria Allred told the room that Herman Cain provided his former employee with a 'stimulus package' of his own

The fifth round of sexual harassment claims come after the GOP presidential candidate's popularity dropped from 66 per cent to 57 per cent, leaving Mitt Romney leading the polls with 63 per cent.
The woman broke her silence at a news conference at 1.30pm in New York with her powerhouse attorney by her side.
Ms Bialek - a Republican - claims that she went to Cain after being told she was being let go of her job as manager of the National Restaurant Association's Education Foundation.
She agreed by phone to travel to Washington to meet him for a drink to discuss her options either with the company or with another.
The former cooking show co-host said Herman Cain sat beside her many times at dinners, luncheons and conventions when she was employed by the NRA, and had spoken with her extensively at this time.

More...

• 'I stand by my story': Woman who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment says he made 'several unwanted advances'
• 'My wife took it harder than I did': Herman Cain on sexual harassment allegations that are hitting him in the polls
• Ron Paul has shock win in Illinois straw poll... but Mitt Romney is just behind
• 'After I ate the pizza I realised the sauce was beer': Saturday Night Live does send up of 'drunk' Rick Perry speech

It was her boyfriend at the time who suggested she go to him for advice, believing he thought 'highly' of her.
When she arrived at the Capitol Hilton hotel, she found that he had upgraded her room to a palatial suite, which she initially thought was done by her boyfriend until Cain later told her, 'I upgraded you.'
They met for drinks in the lobby and then had dinner at an Italian restaurant when he asked her, 'Why are you here?'
She explained that she was reaching out to him at the behest of her boyfriend for help finding a job.
Describing the actual moment of the alleged sexual harassment, Ms Bialek, fighting back tears, told the news conference: 'He suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg...under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch
'When I asked him what he was doing he said, "You want a job don't you?" I told him to stop and he did, I asked him to leave me to my hotel and he did.'
She said she was surprised and shocked at his actions.

The single mother alleged that Herman Cain reached under her skirt in 1997 as she sought help in finding a job

Introducing the single mother, her lawyer Gloria Allred said she was 'disgusted' at Herman Cain's behaviour and said that he 'provided Sharon with a stimulus package of his own' when she went to him for advice.
Written, sworn statements were later read out by Ms Allred from Ms Bialek's former boyfriend, a pediatrician, and a businessman friend and mentor whom she also confided in at the time.
The business card the alleged victim held when she was employed by the NRA was also shown at the conference.
Ms Bialek said she was coming forward now to give a 'face and a voice to the other women'.
A woman who received a cash settlement from the restaurant association in response to her harassment claim rejected Cain's denials on Friday.
She said through her lawyer she was the victim of a 'series of inappropriate behaviours and unwanted advances' by Cain in 1999.
Cain, a former pizza company executive with no experience in political office, has been leading many opinion polls in the race to become the Republican presidential nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama in next year's election.
The embattled nominee clashed with reporters on Saturday night by refusing to answer any more questions on the allegations, saying: 'You see what I mean? I was gonna do something that my staff told me not to do and try to respond, okay?
'What I'm saying is this -- we are getting back on message, end of story. Back on message. Read all of the other accounts.
'Read all of the other accounts where everything has been answered in the story. We're getting back on message, okay?'
When the news that famed attorney Gloria Allred was representing the fourth woman was announced, the Cain campaign tweeted: 'Welcome to the campaign, Gloria Allred. What took you so long?'
Cain revealed over the weekend that it is his wife Gloria who has been hardest hit by the decades-old allegations.
But his popularity among the voters has also taken a hit as the percentage of Republicans who view the Tea Party darling favourably dropped 9 percentage points.
And among all registered voters, Cain's popularity declined 5 percentage points, to 32 per cent from 37 per cent.

Support: Lawyer Gloria Allred holds hands with Sharon Bialek as they leave the news conference at the Friars Club in New York

Ordeal: Herman Cain (right) has said the re-surfacing of decade-old sexual harassment allegations hit his wife Gloria (left) the hardest

He said in the interview: 'My wife, obviously like most spouses, actually took it harder than I did because she knew about this, she knew that there was baseless from 1999.
'And I've had people telling me that usually the family members, um, they're the ones that emotionally take it so much - take it harder than the candidates.
'See the candidate being me, it's like I'm in the boxing match every day, throwing punches back, alright.
'Well when you've got to turn on the TV and watch all of the, uh, exaggerations and innuendos about your husband that you know hadn't done anything wrong, it can have an emotional toll. But she's doing fine now, she's doing fine now.'
Cain has continued to vehemently deny the accusations and has charged the presidential campaign of Texas governor Rick Perry with leaking the story.
Perry's campaign denies any involvement, which surfaced in Politico more than a week ago.

Polling results: Mitt Romney (left) is popular among 63 per cent of Republicans, while Rick Perry (right) is favoured by 47 per cent of GOP members

But now four woman have accused Cain of sexual harassment from his time as the restaurant industry's top lobbyist in the late 1990s.

FAMED ATTORNEY GLORIA ALLRED

Gloria Allred is a feminist American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases.

She represented Amber Frey when Frey was a witness in the criminal case against Scott Peterson and has also represented cases against the Boy Scouts of America for excluding an eleven year old girl named Katrina Yeaw, something she referred to as gender apartheid.

She represented Nicole Brown Simpson's family during the O. J. Simpson murder trial and more recently defended Rachel Uchitel when she was accused of having an affair with Tiger Woods.

Earlier this year she appeared at a press conference with former pornographic actress Ginger Lee in regard to Representative Anthony Weiner allegedly coaching her to lie on his behalf in relation to a sexting scandal.

According to her website, Ms Allred is the 'most famous woman attorney practicing law in the nation today, a tireless and successful advocate whose high-profile legal battles on behalf of victims whose rights have been violated have led to many landmark precedent-setting court decisions and hundreds of millions of dollars which she has won for her clients'.

Cain has given conflicting accounts of the cases since the news broke a week ago. He insists the claims were baseless and that he was wrongfully accused.
The allegations have received wide attention. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found more than 80 percent of respondents had heard of them, with Republicans the most aware, at 88 per cent, while independents the least aware, but still at a relatively high 64 per cent.
Talking about the last week, Cain recognised that things had gotten off to 'a  little bit of a bumpy start'.
He said: 'I knew that that there was nothing to these faceless claims. I knew that.
'And even though I may not have responded on Monday morning as crisply and precise as I did later in the day, I'd do it all over again if I had to.'
He also said he was in the race 'for the long haul' and cited last week's fundraising figures, which showed him netting hundreds of thousands of dollars on the web.
He said: 'I am in it to win it. And far as we're concerned, these allegations aren't going anywhere. I mean people might make up some more stuff. We are in it to win it.
'And here's one other thing. Last week, in the middle of this fire storm, we have had the best fundraising week in the history of this campaign. The American people are sick of government politics.'
Despite the poll result, which showed 53 per cent of respondents believed the allegations were true despite his denials,  Cain predicted his campaign will not be adversely affected by them.
It also revealed that Republicans were less likely to believe they are true, with 39 per cent thinking they are accurate.
Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson said: 'The most striking thing is that Herman Cain is actually seeing a fairly substantial decline in ratings toward him particularly among Republicans.'
Four in 10 poll respondents said the harassment issue had made them less favourable toward Cain. And about one in three Republicans, or 35 percent, said the controversy had made them less favourable toward Cain.
Jackson said it may well be that the wave of support that carried the conservative Cain to the top of the Republican field was now cresting.
He said: 'I think he is probably cresting now. I think this week, last week, were sort of the high-water mark.'



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