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A way that Cain’s implausible-sounding statement begins to make sense
Speaking to Greta van Susteren tonight, Herman Cain fills in more details:
Van Susteren asked what Cain did that led to the accusation. There were reportedly more than one accusations in the complaint, but Cain said he recalled just one incident. “She was in my office one day, and I made a gesture saying—and I was standing close to her—and I made a gesture saying you are the same height as my wife. And I brought my hand up to my chin saying, ‘My wife comes up to my chin.’” At that point, Cain gestured with his flattened palm near his chin. “And that was put in there [the complaint] as something that made her uncomfortable,” Cain said, “something that was in the sexual harassment charge.”Yep, that sounds like a comment/gesture of a non-overtly sexual nature (or rather of a completely non-sexual nature) that would make one of the crazed entitled feminist women of today feel “offended.”
Cain also offered new information about the settlement of the case. Politico, which broke the sexual harassment allegation story, said that the woman received a money settlement “in the five-figure range.” When van Susteren asked about that, Cain said, “My general counsel said this started out where she and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement … I don’t remember a number … But then he said because there was no basis for this, we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement.” When van Susteren asked how much money was involved, Cain said. “Maybe three months’ salary. I don’t remember. It might have been two months. I do remember my general counsel saying we didn’t pay all of the money they demanded.”So now he’s saying that he did know about the settlement. How can this be reconciled with his previous statement, made to Jenna Lee of Fox News, that he didn’t know about it?
Lee: Have you ever had to settle a claim, falsely accused or not, sometimes a settlement happens when a false accusation is made. have you ever had to settle a claim, giving money, or paid someone because a claim of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct.The two statements can be reconciled. Cain is saying that there was an initial demand for a lot of money, which was rejected because the company had found there was no harassment. Then the women left the company, and as part of a severance package they got two or three months salary. Cain knew about this severance package. But the severance package was not in his mind a “settlement” of the charges because the charges had been rejected. The severance package was a “termination settlement,” which in his mind was a different thing from a “settlement” of the charges. So when he said he knew nothing about a “settlement” of the charges he was telling the truth, because there had been no settlement of the charges.
James P. writes: I am totally baffled about the supposed sexual significance of Cain’s hand gesture. What would it mean if I put my flattened palm near my chin?Mark Jaws writes:
As we all know, some women are dead set on bringing sexual harassment suits against men whom they dislike for a variety of reasons. Over ten years ago I worked in a government facility in which the work spaces were broken down into cubicles. While in my own cubicle I told my friends “an ugly wife joke.” A single-parent black female overheard the joke and without saying anything to me, went directly to my project manager to file a complaint claiming sexual harassment. Behind closed doors the manager laughed it off, but warned me that the federal work environment was a minefield, particularly for conservative white men. For the remaining two years I worked there, I totally ignored the woman. Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 31, 2011 10:19 PM | Send Email entry |