The Metropolitan Transit System voted Thursday to bring in outside counsel for an investigation into the behavior of former board Chair Nathan Fletcher.
The MTS board, which voted to retain the counsel in closed session, will begin the selection process and start the investigation immediately, according to a statement from acting MTS Chair Stephen Whitburn. He called last week for the probe.
“After discussion, the Board of Directors decided that we will hire an outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation and report its findings directly to the board,” he said. “The board has instructed counsel to reject any request to indemnify or defend Nathan Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher failed to act in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in the best interest of MTS.”
Fletcher, a San Diego County supervisor, resigned as MTS chair after a former employee filed a lawsuit March 28 accusing him of sexual harassment and battery. He announced his intent to resign as supervisor a day later.
On March 26, he had announced that he was entering a treatment center outside the state for post-traumatic stress, trauma and alcohol abuse.
Fletcher has denied the charges by the MTS employee, Grecia Figueroa, who was fired in February. He characterized the link between them as a consensual relationship, which he embarked upon despite being married to former state Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher.
Figueroa, in her suit, alleges that Fletcher groped her on two occasions and pursued a sexual relationship with her for months, leading to her firing on the day Fletcher announced his now-abandoned state Senate candidacy.
The lawsuit also names MTS as a defendant, accusing officials of failing to prevent sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation.
The investigation prompted by the board will be the second initiated by MTS in the wake of the lawsuit. The agency said last week they had hired outside counsel for an independent probe, while also saying that Figueroa had been fired for cause.
Terra Lawson-Remer, vice chair of the Board of Supervisors, said in a statement Tuesday that she was incredibly “sad, frustrated and disappointed with Supervisor Fletcher’s alleged actions.” She added that she supports the MTS efforts to seek a “full and transparent independent investigation.”
– City News Service
