The California Democratic Party has spent more than $800,000 on legal costs stemming from three lawsuits alleging discrimination and sexual misconduct by former chair Eric Bauman.
The sum includes more than $430,000 in attorney’s fees alone, including payments to law firms representing Bauman.
According to a Times review of state and federal campaign finance filings, the state party has paid $378,348 in legal settlements to Alton Wang, William Rodriguez-Kennedy and Kate Earley. The trio originally filed suit in January, alleging a culture of harassment and sexual misconduct that was “well-known and apparently tolerated” by top officials.
“Our party is at its best when it lives up to our values. One of those values is treating people fairly,” the current party chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement to The Times. “We have reached an equitable settlement that begins the process of getting back to the work 9 million California Democrats expect from us.”
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