In a letter sent to the San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, Bob Filner's attorney Harvey Berger said the city was liable for the mayor's sexual misconduct because he was never provided with state-required sexual harassment training.

Berger wrote the letter in an effort to convince the city to foot the bill for Filner's legal fees.

"If there is any liability at all, the city will almost certainly be liable for 'failing to prevent harassment,'" Berger told Goldsmith [pdf].

Since Filner never received sexual harassment training during his nearly two decades in Congress, San Diego was required by law to provide it within six months of the mayor's start date.

A training session that was scheduled had been canceled and never rescheduled, said Berger.

"Many—if not most—people do not know what is and what is not illegal sexual harassment under California law," the lawyer wrote in his letter, dated July 29th.

The 70-year-old mayor recently told his constitutes he needed "help" after eight women, including his former director of communications Irene McCormack Jackson, came forward with sexual harassment allegations.

Filner acknowledged a "failure to respect women," and announced his plans to undergo two weeks of "intensive therapy" starting August 5th.

The City Council voted on Tuesday to reject Filner's demand that taxpayers pay his legal expenses, and followed that up with a proposed lawsuit seeking to recover any damages ordered by the court if and when Jackson wins her lawsuit against the mayor and the city.

[photo via AP]