The former girlfriend of the mayor of Inglewood is suing him for claims of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
Melanie McDade-Dickens alleges that the mayor coerced her into performing sexual acts while at work, stalked her, and when she tried to end their affair, terminated her position.
The city of Inglewood and Butts call the lawsuit outrageous and unfounded, adding that McDade-Dickens, his former assistant, is trying to coverup her own misdeed by smearing others.
McDade-Dickens was a long-time employee who also worked on the Mayor's re-election campaign and became a trusted member of his inner circle. The relationship turned into a romantic one, but ended in 2018. McDade-Dickens says Butts did not take it well, stalked her, harassed her and eventually she was fired from her job.
“When Ms. McDade attempted to end the relationship in 2018, it turned to stalking and obsession by Butts,” the lawsuit states. “At first, Butts would not ‘allow’ Ms. McDade to break up with him. He called her hundreds of times, would go to her house, uninvited, sneaking in through the garage and stand over her bed watching her sleep.”
The city attorney says quite the opposite and that Dickens was involved in fraud and other criminal behavior and that led to her dismissal.
In a statement, Mira Hashmall, an attorney for the city, said Inglewood is “prepared to fight these outrageous and unfounded allegations all the way to trial.”
“The Mayor categorically denies any and all allegations of coercion or harassment,” Hashmall stated. “This complaint, full of salacious fabrications, is a tactic designed to draw attention away from Ms. McDade’s wrongdoing by smearing others. It will not work.”
In a news conference Tuesday, McDade-Dickens said she attempted to remain professional in the year after the breakup.
“I showed up at work every single day, I didn’t miss an assignment, I was at every meeting that he eventually allowed me to be in,” McDade-Dickens said. “I still maintained all of my daily activities, I never slacked. I would close my door sometimes and cry and bite my tongue, but I compartmentalized my work and my relationship.”
Butts is widely credited with helping to bring the NFL to Inglewood, and overseeing the building of the city's SoFi football stadium.
