SAN DIEGO — Grecia Figueroa, the woman who accused former San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher of sexually assaulting her, says her former employer, the Metropolitan Transit System, offered her $10,000 in exchange for her silence.
In addition, Ms. Figueroa says the former County Supervisor and Chair of the Metropolitan Transit System set her up to make it appear as if Ms. Figueroa was extorting money from the family and that if not paid, she would go public with what he claimed were false sexual assault accusations.
Those allegations and more are included in a July 14 amended legal complaint from Ms. Figueroa against San Diego's transit system and Mr. Fletcher.
Ms. Figueroa's allegations first came to light on March 28 when then-County Supervisor Fletcher held a press conference alleging that Ms. Figueroa demanded that he and his wife, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, pay her millions of dollars to keep what he claimed was a consensual affair quiet. During the press conference, Fletcher accused Ms. Figueroa of lying about the "circumstances and nature of [their] interactions."
That same day, Ms. Figueroa's lawsuit was made public.
In it, the former MTS public relations worker said Fletcher began contacting her on social media by liking her pictures. The social media contact soon morphed into direct messages in which Mr. Fletcher boasted about his work as a "human intelligence operative." The content of the message escalated with the former supervisor asking to meet Ms. Figueroa, at one point stating, "Just have to find the right setting...like in a closet of something [smiley face emoji]."
According to Ms. Figueroa's complaint, she later met with Mr. Fletcher in a stairwell at a downtown hotel where the two kissed.
The following month after several more messages, the complaint alleges that Mr. Fletcher then forced himself on her after a transit system board meeting.
By September of last year, according to the complaint. Ms. Figueroa says she worried that people would find out and her career would be ruined. Despite her fears, the complaint states that Ms. Fletcher once again assaulted her in December 2022, also inside MTS headquarters.
Then, in February of this year, Ms. Figueroa's amended complaint states that MTS Human Resource head, Jeff Stumbo called her into his office and fired her without notice or without any explanation.
The next day Ms. Figueroa says Mr. Stumbo contacted her and offered her $10,000 severance in exchange for her releasing any and all claims against Mr. Fletcher and MTS.
Reads the July 14 amended complaint, "The offer was also conditioned on Ms. Figueroa's agreement to never tell anyone about the settlement and to never 'make any statements...or cause or encourage others to make any statements that disparage the personal and/or business reputations, practices, and/or conduct' of MTS or Fletcher."
Ms. Figueroa rejected the offer.
The amended complaint then says that Mr. Fletcher, through his counsel, entered into pre-litigation settlement discussions with Ms. Figueroa and her attorney, Zach Schumacher.
Ms. Figueroa agreed to provide Mr. Fletcher with a copy of a "draft" lawsuit as well as a dollar figure that she would accept to stay quiet. The draft lawsuit, according to the new court documents, did not make any mention of the pre-settlement discussions and the request that Ms. Figueroa give an amount to end any litigation.
Weeks later, Mr. Fletcher went public with claims that he had a "consensual affair" with a former colleague and that she, later discovered to be Ms. Figueroa, was extorting him for millions of dollars.
The amended complaint states that Fletcher and his attorney were not aware that the settlement discussions were later placed into the lawsuit which was made public on the same day of the press conference.
"When the Court published Ms. Figueroa's complaint, around 12:15 pm on March 29, 2023, Fletcher presumable realized the blunder of publicly defaming Ms. Figueroa in the context of this lawsuit because, later that same day, he announced his resignation from MTS and his intention to resign as a County Supervisor."
The lawsuit is now moving forward in court. Mr. Fletcher has yet to file a formal answer to the complaint. Meanwhile, attorneys for MTS are asking that a court dismiss the lawsuit on claims that she did not follow proper procedure by submitting a tort claim prior to filing her lawsuit.
An MTS spokesperson says the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.
