California Assemblywoman Christina Garcia Fired Staffer For Not Playing Spin The Bottle

A former employee of Assemblywoman Christina Garcia filed a complaint with the state against her Saturday for allegedly firing him after he refused to play spin the bottle with her.

A complaint posted online by employee J. David Kernick’s lawyer Saturday stated during his time as a field representative in Garcia’s employment, she was “very disparaging to the staff and others, used vulgar language, discussed topics inappropriate for the workplace and showed herself to be very vindictive in nature.”

In mounting allegations against the California Assemblywoman Garcia, 38, who was at the helm of the #Metoo movement, was also accused of sexually harassing a former legislative staffer in 2014. Earlier this month, Daniel Fierro, a former employee of Garcia, told Politico during his service at the State Capitol in Sacramento, he was groped by the assemblywoman at a softball game held in 2014.

In addition to these accusations, another lawyer Wednesday unveiled a list of other allegations by Garcia's four former employees, who preferred to remain anonymous. In the complaints, they accused Garcia of similar transgressions.

According to Kernick's complaint, he alleged his performance as a field representative didn’t garner any censure from the assemblywoman until “after he questioned the appropriateness of her suggestion that after a fundraiser at a whiskey bar,” they “sit on the floor of her hotel room and play spin the bottle.”

Kernick said he was fired two days later after he was disciplined with a “write up for insubordination.”

Tim Reardon, who served as Garcia’s chief of staff, said he found the allegations hurled against his former employer baseless. He added during his tenure with Garcia he didn’t receive any complaints about inappropriate behavior concerning her. He stressed the allegations were a ploy to discredit the assemblywoman.

“It’s like a malicious, really bizarre alternate universe built on a lot of innuendo and lies solely to destroy to character of Assemblywoman Garcia,” Reardon said. “That’s all that I can see.”

In reference to the complaint filed by Kernick, Reardon said it was "complete falsehood." He said Kernick was fired for underwhelming performance at his job, even after being warned often to improve.

“If Mr. Kernick wants to talk about his time working there, then he ought to open up his own personnel records and let people see what was written in there,” Reardon said.

In response to the allegations Garcia issued the following statement Wednesday:

“Upon reflection of the details alleged, I am certain I did not engage in the behavior I am accused of. However, as I’ve said before, any claims about sexual harassment must be taken seriously, and I believe elected officials should be held to a higher standard of accountability. Therefore, I am voluntarily taking an immediate unpaid leave from my position in the State Assembly, including any accompanying committee assignments, so as not to serve as a distraction or in any way influence the process of this investigation. I implore the Assembly Rules Committee to conduct a thorough and expeditious investigation, and I look forward to getting back to work on behalf of my constituents and for the betterment of California.”