Great-Grandmother Latest to Accuse Bob Filner of Sexual Harassment

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Taylor Berman

08/15/13 05:54PM

Filed to: bob filner

A 67-year-old great-grandmother is the latest person to accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment. During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Peggy Shannon, who works part time at San Diego's City Hall, said Filner once asked her “if she could go for eight hours straight.”

Shannon also claims that Filner once grabbed and kissed her. "I knew he was engaged and I felt very shocked," she said. "On the day that Mayor Filner grabbed me and kissed me, I went home and cried."

Gloria Allred, Shannon's attorney, told reporters that in yet another incident Filner allegedly approached Shannon and asked, “Do you think you could go eight hours straight?”

Shannon is the 16^th woman to accuse Filner of sexual harassment. Efforts to recall Filner have been plagued by problems, though they may soon be unnecessary; Thursday afternoon, Nancy Pelosi, with whom Filner worked for two decades in congress, joined the many others calling for his resignation.

Mayor Filner is out of rehab, he should be out of the Mayor’s Office — should not subject San Diegans to pain & expense of a recall.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) August 15, 2013

[Image via AP]

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2

theghostofanncurry Taylor Berman 08/15/13 07:44PM

Orchestrated movement by the business community whom Filner removed from influence at the mayors office for the first time in decades. This is their move. The demo party in SD knew Filner's problem. Nobody addressed it until now. Wonder why? Glad to see Gawker on the same 'slime-the-mayor' train. Great investigative reporting guys!

Smallweed theghostofanncurry 08/15/13 09:49PM

I do not follow your point. The business community made him fondle women? The Democratic Party knew he was a womanizer so they waited till he was in office... to what? Have the first democrat mayor in 30 years turn out to be an idiot?

Or are you saying this is a "follow the money" conspiracy thing?

1

sdeditrix theghostofanncurry 08/15/13 10:06PM

I am so fucking disgusted by the lack of due process. San Diego has become a Third World country, only we're run by developers, not warlords. And at least warlords don't lie about their intentions.

AgingHipster Smallweed 08/16/13 11:49AM

This is absolutely, 100 percent a "follow the money" thing. Please note that only ONE lawsuit has been filed in all of this, and it's with unverified testimony! This is all bullshit. He's our first progressive, populist mayor and he's been pissing off the developers willy-nilly.

1

AgingHipster sdeditrix 08/16/13 11:50AM

Thank you. And the media in this town, most of whom have been made to feel stupid by ol' Bombastic Bob, are gleefully jumping on the hate train. They've been waiting for an opportunity like this. God forbid anybody ever make them feel a little bit stupid.

3

GregorMendel Taylor Berman 08/15/13 07:39PM

Would someone please explain to me why this predator is still mayor of San Diego?

Mkvenner GregorMendel 08/15/13 07:57PM

Cloaking ability and big scary fondling-claws.

(sorry, I'll leave now)

1

GammiL GregorMendel 08/15/13 08:51PM

Filner is still in because of myopic recall bylaws. Recalling him would require the signatures of 1/3rd of San Diego. Getting that many signatures requires either an army of volunteer door-to-door signature collectors, or a war chest (of if I recall $700k dollars) to pay those signature collectors.

The Dems have been... reluctant to spend that money. How would you feel if you paid this guy to get in office, threw your weight behind him, and now you have a Dem in office for the first time in 20 years. Suddenly those "he-said she-said rumors" you swept under the rug for him turned out to be early signs of sociopathy and you have to pay again to get him out of office?! They're hoping he resigns so they don't have to - they have campaigns to spend that money on.

But their pride is undeserved here. They made a bad bet and gave this PoS the key to the city; they need to own up to it and cover the recall costs now before it's too late. And not just because it's the only right thing to do.

I guarantee no one will remember recall costs by late 2014 (most people don't know about them now). Filner will be used to gut the Democratic leadership as devoid of character. The much discussed story of "some godless immoral west coast liberals who elected a violent, sexually harassing sociopath into office and then let him stay" will cost the Democrats far more than $700k.

3

ReasonWeeps2 GregorMendel 08/16/13 12:25AM

I agree! Most of these sexual harassment incidents are actually sexual assaults. Fondling, forcible kissing, licking people, or grabbing them for a "hug" without letting him/her go are assaults. He should be arrested if the statute of limitations hasn't run out. I wish Jezebel and other outlets would differentiate between his acts of harassment and the numerous claims of sexual assaults. I wish every San Diegan would cockpunch him until he begged for a chance to resign.

GregorMendel GammiL 08/16/13 12:46PM

Excellent explanation. But, Christ, it's worth the damn effort and money.

4

Hellephant Taylor Berman 08/15/13 05:59PM

Yet another wrinkle in the debate over whether he should resign and save face.

4

DarthPumpkin Hellephant 08/15/13 06:20PM

This picture is the best argument against adding more megapixels to digital cameras.

1

sdeditrix Hellephant 08/15/13 10:03PM

Oh yeah let's just attack him because of his age.

If Filner were Republican and started crying about Jesus, he'd be home scot-free.

1

Hellephant sdeditrix 08/16/13 07:34AM

I was only trying but failing to make a witty double entendre about his face wrinkles. I have no idea how old he is, though he looks like he may have escaped from a tar pit at some point in his history.

2

kookla Taylor Berman 08/15/13 06:05PM

I haven't really been following this story, but what is the Mayor claiming? Sex addiction? Drugs? Alcohol? Not that it makes it any better, but I find it hard to believe he just thinks anyone would take him at his word that he just didn't know better.

7

dbx6 kookla 08/15/13 06:13PM

sex addiction isn't an excuse for abusing your employees just like alcoholism is not an excuse for driving drunk. If there is a pathological issue, that's separate from the willful acts of malice undertaken by someone. We're talking about an addiction here, not being insane and unaware of the difference between right and wrong at the time of acting out. Unless he can demonstrate that he is incapable of understanding the meaning of his actions, he will be called to answer for his actions.

23

Cherith Cutestory kookla 08/15/13 06:23PM

Even better he is claiming he didn't know it was wrong because they never gave him a mandatory sexual harassment class

11

EinSofa Cherith Cutestory 08/15/13 06:36PM

"I'm sorry, officer, I didn't know I couldn't do that."

To be fair, it's not like sexual harassment was a major issue in American politics during the time that Filner was a Democratic politician, from 1987 to 2012. I mean, did YOU ever hear any stories about it affecting the reputation of, say, a Supreme Court Justice or a US president during that time?

Cherith Cutestory EinSofa 08/15/13 06:52PM

A perfect point.