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In an explosive allegation, a former aide of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee says she was terminated because she planned to file suit against the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation after she was sexually assaulted by a male staffer.
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Jackson Lee, who chairs the influential CBC foundation, is under fire and named in the lawsuit, The Houston Chronicle reports.
The ex-staffer alleges that a 30-year-old foundation supervisor sexually assaulted her in 2015. She said she was 19-years-old at the time and a student at Howard University.
The woman outlined her abuse in the suit stating that after leaving an event, where she says she was set up to be the last one to leave, she indulged in alcohol at dinner with the accused, stopped at a liquor store and then at the supervisor’s home. She says he took advantage of her and forced her to perform oral sex. The victim said she woke up in his bed the next day naked and in pain.
She reportedly sent a text to a friend that said, “Help” according to the suit.
The lawsuit names the defendants as Jackson Lee, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
The woman, who reportedly worked for Jackson Lee from November 2017 to March 2018, said she was let go from her job as a special assistant and director of public engagement after saying that she planned to sue the foundation.
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On Wednesday Jackson Lee condemned the woman’s abuse claims and denied the assault occurred.
“The congresswoman is confident that, once all of the facts come to light, her office will be exonerated of any retaliatory or otherwise improper conduct and this matter will be put to rest,” a statement said.
According to The New York Times, Jackson Lee a Texas Democrat in her 13th term, has since stepped down temporarily from her post on the House Judiciary subcommittee chairmanship.
The foundation has released a statement saying they are fully cooperating with the investigation.
“We are deeply concerned about the welfare of all our interns and fellows, including ‘Jane Doe,’ the former C.B.C.F. intern who recently filed suit,” said C. J. Epps, a spokesman. “It is C.B.C.F.’s position that the foundation did not have the purview to terminate Ms. Doe from a staff position in a congressional office, and therefore, did not take such action nor recommend or influence said decision.”