Story highlights
- FIRST ON CNN: San Diego businesswoman becomes Mayor Bob Filner's 18th accuser
- Dianne York tells CNN that Filner touched buttocks during a photo opportunity three months ago
Another woman has come forward to accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment.
Businesswoman Dianne York told CNN that Filner put his hands on her buttocks during a photo opportunity that followed a meeting three months ago. York said there were witnesses to what happened. She said both her advisers and Filner's were in the room at the time.
York is the 18th woman to accuse Filner of improper conduct. One woman said Filner gave her "tush a pat." Another said he "put me in what I guess now is the famous headlock" and tried "to kiss me on the lips and I'd have to squirm to get away."
Filner's former communication director, Irene McCormack Jackson, quit her job and sued the mayor in July, saying he subjected women to "crude and disgusting" comments and inappropriate touching.
Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers
Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers
San Diego mayor's accusers – Businesswoman Dianne York told CNN that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner put his hands on her buttocks during this photo op after a meeting three months ago. York said there were witnesses. She said both her advisers and Filner's were in the room at the time. Click through the gallery of other women who have come forward in the case.
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Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers
San Diego mayor's accusers – Caryl Iseman, a San Diego real estate agent, attended an anti-Filner rally in August. She told CNN iReporter Chris Morrow that at a fundraiser 25 years ago, after photos had been taken, Filner "decided he could reach around and grab my breast." Iseman indicated it was the first time she had spoken publicly about the alleged incident. "The sheriff's department knows about it. I have not yet come forward yet with it ... but if it's needed to establish the timeline of how long this guy has been doing this, I will."
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Peggy Shannon, a 67-year-old great-grandmother who works at the Senior Citizens Service Desk in San Diego City Hall, faced "continuous inappropriate sexual advances by Filner while trying to do her job," according to the office of her attorney, Gloria Allred.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Kathryn Vaughn, a San Diego attorney, told CNN affiliate KFMB that after her husband walked away at a public event 10 years ago, Filner "made an inappropriate movement on my body."
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Eldonna Fernandez says Filner left her a flirtatious e-mail after they met at a Healing and Hiring Fair held by the National Women's Veterans Association of America in 2012. "Hi, it's your newly favorite congressman, Bob Filner. You know, the one who fell in love with you at your last speech," Filner said in the voicemail. Filner, 70, has been dogged for weeks by sexual harassment allegations. He has refused to resign.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Army veteran Gerri Tindley says Filner got too close to her at a National Women's Veterans Association of America event where she gave a speech about being raped, which she said happened during her eight years of service. Tindley said she felt uncomfortable as Filner moved closer and closer -- so close, she said, that she nearly fell off the couch trying to move away from him.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Michelle Tyler, center, has accused Filner of unwanted sexual advances. During a news conference, Tyler said that during a visit to his office in June, Filner rubbed her arm and asked for dinner dates in exchange for his helping Katherine Ragazzino, right, a brain-injured Iraq war veteran.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Renee Estill-Sombright told CNN affiliate KGTV that the mayor called her "beautiful" at a church breakfast in June, said he couldn't take his eyes off her, asked whether she was married and then said he'd like to take her out some time.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Emily Gilbert accused Filner of sexual harassment on Friday, August 2. She told CNN she was hired to sing at a fundraising event in December and the mayor grabbed her, slid his hand down the small of her back and gave her "tush a pat." He then asked her: "Oh, Marilyn, can I get your card?" she recalled.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Filner's former spokeswoman, Irene McCormack Jackson, has also accused him of sexual harassment and filed a suit against him. She said Filner subjected her and other women to "crude and disgusting" comments and inappropriate touching. She resigned as Filner's communications director in June after, she said, she decided the mayor would not change his behavior.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Nonprofit founder Morgan Rose said she met Filner in 2009 when she was lobbying for her organization, which works with military and other families hurt by domestic violence. She says he looked her up and down, stared into her eyes and said, "Your eyes have bewitched me." He then moved to her side of the booth, sat beside her, pinned her to the wall, and put his arm around her, Rose alleged.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Political consultant Laura Fink has accused the mayor of patting her "posterior" at a fundraising event in 2005. At the time, Fink was working as the deputy manager of Filner's congressional campaign. She said she thinks Filner should resign.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Sharon Bernie-Cloward, president of the San Diego Port Tenants Association, claims that when Filner was running for mayor in 2012, he approached her at a political event. "He touched me, actually groped me on my backside inappropriately," she told KPBS. "I was left there startled and fearful. In fact, I actually had someone walk me to my car that night."
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Patti Roscoe, a prominent businesswoman in San Diego's tourism and hospitality industry, told KPBS that on numerous occasions, Filner "put me in what I guess now is the famous headlock." She told the station: "I felt fearful, even as well as I knew him, because it was an invasion into my space. And he would come in and try to kiss me on the lips, and I'd have to squirm to get away."
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Veronica "Ronne" Froman, a retired Navy rear admiral and San Diego's former chief operating officer, told KPBS that she and Filner, then a congressman, met a few years ago at his office after everyone had left. "He stopped me and he got very close to me. And he ran his finger up my cheek like this, and he whispered to me, 'Do you have a man in your life?' " she said.
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Joyce Gattas, a dean at San Diego State University, told KPBS that she had several "interactions" with Filner "where he's held me too tight, a kiss on the cheek which is inappropriate, hands on the knee that last too long."
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San Diego mayor's accusers – Lisa Curtin, the director of government and military education at San Diego City College, told KPBS that Filner grabbed her hand, fingered her wedding ring and asked if it was real. She also said he tried to kiss her; she moved her head and felt his tongue on her cheek.
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DNC to vote on Bob Filner resolution 01:42
New petition wants Filner out of office 01:53
Filner recently acknowledged inappropriate behavior, but has steadfastly resisted efforts to force him out of office. He has said publicly that his misconduct was not enough to force him out of office, and has insisted he will be vindicated by "a full presentation of the facts."
The city has changed the locks to the mayor's office, and mediation talks that could effectively end his tenure in office are continuing, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said Tuesday.
The talks come on the heels of Filner's intensive two-week behavioral therapy, which was apparently aimed at ending his allegedly backward ways of treating women in the workplace.
The mayor began the voluntary program July 29, but his attorney, James Payne, said he was able to complete it August 10, and he was expected to continue with outpatient treatment.
