• 02
  • November
    2011

This year has been riddled with sex scandals among politicians. We wrote stories on Anthony Weiner and Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Now, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is in the spotlight for sexual harassment allegations from the 1990s.

This is not the first time the allegations have been made public. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the accusations were first reported when Cain was the head of the National Restaurant Association. Despite the accusations and despite allegedly signing a sexual harassment settlement, Cain has maintained his innocence throughout the affair -- mostly.

Recently, Cain was asked if he had ever seen or signed a sexual harassment settlement with allegations against him. Cain responded, "No. I don't recall signing it. Now, the fact that I say I don't recall signing it doesn't mean I didn't sign it, but I simply don't recall if I signed it."

However, there seems to be inconsistencies with Cain's story. Prior to saying that he didn't recall signing the settlement, he denied the accusations entirely. Cain said, "I have never sexually harassed anyone and those accusations are totally false... It was concluded, after a thorough investigation, that it had no basis."

Regardless of how well he remembers the specifics that led to the alleged accusations, Cain seems to not understand one crucial bit of information about sexual harassment. When he was asked whether he knows where the line is between appropriate and inappropriate, Cain said that he believed that he knew where the line is. However, he also added that you have to know the individual.

While he might be correct that some women might be more comfortable with conversations that are sexual in nature, that does not make them okay. Sexual harassment -- and determining where the line between appropriate and inappropriate is -- should never be a guessing game.

Source: Huffington Post, "Herman Cain On Sexual Harassment Settlement: Not Recalling Signing It, Doesn't Mean I Didn't Sign It," Nov. 1, 2011