Herman Cain’s Accuser Paid $34K Severance Pay

One of the two women accusing GOP frontrunner Herman Cain of sexual harassment 19 years ago was paid $34,000 — the equivalent of one year’s salary — in a severance pay settlement, according to the New York Times.

The 2nd female accuser reportedly received 2 to 3 months severance pay in a settlement with the National Restaurant Association in 1992.

Last night, the woman’s attorney, Joel P. Bennett, told Anderson Cooper that his unidentified accuser plans to petition the restaurant association to rescind the portion of her agreement pertaining to confidentiality. Bennett, a Washington lawyer, who has not met with his client in years, said the woman wishes to come forward to tell her story now that Cain is making her out to be a liar.

Bennett also indicated that the source who leaked the story to Politico.com was involved in some capacity with the National Restaurant Association which settled with the two female employees who complained about sexually inappropriate behaviour while working for Mr Cain.

To understand why the restaurant trade group settled with the two accusers, it is important to note the political climate of the times in the 1990s. Claims of sexual harassment in the workplace skyrocketed in the 1990s once the national media turned a spotlight on the phenomenon.

6100 sexual harassment cases were filed in 1990 alone. Most of those cases were settled out of court — and almost all of the cases filed involved Caucasian women.

But it is not all bad news for Mr. Cain: the media frenzy has resulted in a boost to his campaign coffers. According to the Daily Mail, around $250,000 in campaign donations has poured in since the story broke on Sunday.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Mr. Cain announced that his wife of 43 years, Gloria Cain — who prefers to remain out of the spotlight — will soon take part in an interview with him.

“It’s not her style for her to be with me on every campaign stop,” said the Republican presidential candidate. “My wife represents that calm and tranquillity that I look forward to seeing when I get home”