With harassment suit dismissed, Nathan Fletcher speaks publicly for first time in years

Former San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who resigned from elected office in 2023 after being accused of sexual assault and harassment, said Friday he has no plans to seek to return to public service, even after his accuser’s lawsuit was dismissed.

At the same time, he plans to proceed with the defamation countersuit he filed last year against his accuser, the former Metropolitan Transit System public relations specialist Grecia Figueroa.

“It’s not OK to lie,” Fletcher said Friday at his first public appearance since leaving office two and a half years ago. “It’s not OK to destroy someone intentionally.”

Figueroa issued a brief statement Friday in response to Fletcher’s comments. “I hope healing for anyone who’s gone through trauma, but real healing can only begin by telling the truth,” she said. She has said she will appeal her lawsuit’s dismissal.

Fletcher, who was considered a strong contender for a state Senate seat in March 2023 when Figueroa filed her complaint, spoke publicly Friday about the allegations one month after a judge dismissed it.

That lawsuit had been nearing trial when Judge Matthew C. Braner granted Fletcher’s request for dismissal after an Aug. 8 hearing, citing Figueroa’s withholding of some evidence and deletion of other materials. The decision came days after he  threw out Figueroa’s claims against MTS.

Sam Sherman, one of the lawyers who defended Fletcher, said he approved Fletcher speaking Friday because the time period for Figueroa to ask the judge formally to reconsider the dismissal had now lapsed. Sherman praised the rulings.

Seated alongside his wife at the often emotional press conference, Fletcher said he accepted responsibility for misbehavior that led him into what he described as a consensual but improper relationship with Figueroa.

But the former county supervisor, who served as chair of the MTS board as part of his elected duties, also said the personal challenges he confronted over the years — including an apparent arson at their home in 2022 and his wife’s 2021 cancer diagnosis — had made him vulnerable to poor decision-making.

For years, Fletcher said, he struggled with post-traumatic stress, hiding his abuse of alcohol to cope with the leftovers of a troubled childhood and military combat overseas.

He said he put on a brave face as he navigated campaigns, politics and the obligations of elected office. But after dark, he said he turned to pills and whiskey to ward off thrashing in his sleep and a gnawing worry that he would fall apart at any moment.

“Internally, I was really struggling,” Fletcher said. “I felt like I was walking a tightrope and barely hanging on.”

Fletcher announced on social media in late March 2023 that he was stepping away from public office to seek inpatient treatment for chronic alcohol use and post-traumatic stress. Days later, the accusations leveled by Figueroa the following day landed like a political earthquake.

Two of his staff members quit amid the furor. Fletcher issued a public statement acknowledging what he called improper relationship but denying the assault and harassment allegations.

At the news conference Friday, Fletcher said the litigation took a toll on his wife, the high-profile labor leader and former state Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, and on his family.

“We wanted to fix things,” he said of his marriage. “Don’t get me wrong; she was very mad. But we came out of it stronger and better. You can rebuild trust and put things back together.”

Fletcher left California to enroll in residential treatment that included equine therapy, which he said was invaluable to his recovery. He said he has been sober for two and a half years and enjoys his work as a cowboy and ranch hand.

He said he has a sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous who has been a steady influence in his sobriety, but he also said he understands he remains an addict and vulnerable to relapses. He said he has a new grandchild and support from his wife and children.

Gonzalez, now president of the influential California Federation of Labor Unions, said she knew her husband suffered from post-traumatic stress when they met back when she was a state lawmaker but assumed the condition was under control.

When he was sued in 2023, Gonzalez said, she did not hesitate to support him. She said she heard from many women who said they had experienced similar setbacks in their marriages.

“Everybody else gets to deal with this sort of thing privately,” she said. “Instead, I had to see this on the evening news every night.”

Late last year, Figueroa withdrew her lawsuit’s allegations of sexual assault and battery, opting to proceed with the sexual harassment and retaliation claims.

In the wake of the dismissals last month, she vowed to press on with her lawsuit. Even if she failed to turn over some texts or erased others by mistake, she said, the evidence should be put to a jury.

The defamation case has been delayed while the time for an appeal of the underlying claims runs its course. A trial in the defamation case is now tentatively set for next June.