San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s legal team reached a tentative settlement agreement Wednesday evening after three days of mediation in response to a sexual harassment suit filed against him, the U-T San Diego reported.
“The City Council has not heard of this proposal and our process at City Hall as well as the mediation process requires that we maintain the confidentiality of the proposal until they have heard of it,” City Attorney Jan Goldsmith told reporters, as quoted by the U-T. “This is the process we follow. Any rumors you hear about the proposal you may deem to be untrue because the people standing here are the ones who know of it and we have all committed to [Federal Judge J. Lawrence Irving] that we will maintain the confidentiality of the mediation.”
The City Council will consider the proposed agreement in a closed session Friday afternoon, according to the U-T.
CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reported that a source close to the talks said Filner’s resignation appears to be a part of the settlement deal. Attorney Gloria Allred and her client in the sexual harassment suit, Filner’s former Communications Director Irene McCormack Jackson, considered the mayor’s resignation a key demand, according to the U-T.
Eighteen different women have come forth to accuse the mayor of various harrassment so far.
