San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D-Calif.) has been disinvited from being the keynote speaker at an event on military sexual assault, after three women came forward this week and accused him of sexual harassment.
Filner was scheduled to speak at an Aug. 30 charity event for the National Women Veterans Association of America.
In recent days, however, three women have gone public with accusations that Filner behaved inappropriately toward them. Irene McCormack Jackson, Filner's former communications director, said the mayor would often put her in headlocks and whisper sexual advances. In the lawsuit she filed against him on Monday, McCormack Jackson also said she saw Filner "place his hands where they did not belong on numerous women."
"After much careful thought and consideration, my board and I have determined and decided that Mayor Bob Filner will be removed as guest speaker on the topic of military sexual assault, sexual harassment and violence against women and children," NWVAA President Tara Jones said, according to Fox 5 in San Diego.
Jones said that Filner is still invited to attend the event.
The group was initially planning to give Filner, who served as chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 2007-2011 before being elected mayor, an award for his work on behalf of veterans. But when a former city councilwoman -- and one-time Filner supporter -- came forward and said she had heard from women who had been sexually harassed by the mayor, the group said it would no longer give him the award.
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