At an October 28, 2015 press conference, Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, former Town of Occoquan Manager Claudia Cruise, and other Prince William County women revealed shocking details concerning Occoquan Supervisor candidate Earnie Porta’s history of abusive treatment towards women.
Watch it here:
Town of Occoquan Manager Claudia Cruise stated that Mr. Porta was verbally abusive toward her:
“Earnie’s temper flared notably in 2012 when I made suggestions as to how the public notice of the budget was to appear in the newspaper. He told me I was wrong, but when I gave him examples, he screamed at the top of his lungs, while repeatedly jabbing his finger toward me.”
During his employment at Georgetown University, Porta was found guilty of gender discrimination, the retaliatory dismissal of a whistleblower, and the creation of a “sexually hostile work environment” that resulted in a jury award of $90,000 in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $1,000,000. Mr. Porta had previously tried to deflect these charges by implying that Georgetown University was sued and he was a named as a party for reasons unrelated to the abuse.
A review of the complaint (embedded in full below) reveals that the allegations were leveled at Mr. Porta personally and not merely because he held some official position with the University. In November of 1991, Porta was hired as an assistant to the controller at Georgetown. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Porta was accused by the Plaintiff, Monica Estes, of making inappropriate sexual comments to female work-study students. Complaint ¶19. During a business trip to Boston, Mr. Porta punched Ms. Estes in the arm in the presence of a banking representative. Complaint ¶44. These are just two of the many allegations against Mr. Porta contained in the complaint.
Earnie Porta: Unfit to Lead
The attendees of the press conference have asked for Mr. Porta to drop out of the race for Occoquan supervisor or, at the very least, offer an explanation that comports with the facts, namely that he was not a mere bystander in the civil suit brought against him.
The full complaint is below:
