Montclair City Councilmember Ben Lopez insists that someone else was responsible for the sexual harassment of two city employees, disputing a San Bernardino Superior Court judge’s findings otherwise. On the stand Friday, Dec. 12, in a Rancho Cucamonga courtroom, Lopez said an “unauthorized Grind r account” was created in his name without his knowledge, and his bank account was used to make a “fraudulent charge for an OnlyFans account,” referring to an LGTBQ dating app and a subscription video sharing app popular with adult-film actors. Montclair City Council Member Ben Lopez is a defendant in two lawsuits filed by city employees against him and the city of Montclair. The suits allege sexual harassment and unwanted sexual advances that created a hostile work environment. A city investigation corroborated the allegations. (File photo courtesy of Ben Lopez) But Superior Court Judge Kory Mathewson appeared unconvinced, imposing an additional $176,000 in punitive damages on top of the $1.35 million Lopez in compensatory damages was ordered to pay a week before. The $176,000 is essentially all of the money Lopez is set to receive as a Montclair City Council member over his two four-year terms in office. According to Lopez, his biggest source of consistent income is the pay he receives as a council member. “There’s no more incentive for Mr. Lopez to work as a councilman,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Brian Hannemann, said after Friday’s hearing. “The city, Montclair, deserves better than Lopez. We hope he does the right thing and resigns.” On Dec. 5, Mathewson made a tentative oral ruling against Lopez, ordering the Montclair councilmember to pay a total of $1.35 million to Michael Fuentes, the city’s director of economic development, and Edmund Garcia, a senior information technology specialist with the city, and the city of Montclair. Fuentes and Garcia sued Lopez and the city in December 2021 after the pair complained to upper management earlier in the year that they’d been harassed by the councilmember. In his Dec. 5 ruling, Mathewson awarded each of the plaintiffs $400,000. The city settled with the pair for $550,000 in 2023 and then sued Lopez to recover its costs. According to Garcia’s lawsuit, Lopez, who was elected in November 2020, asked him out to dinner, asked him about his sexual preferences and repeatedly asked him to have sex. Lopez’s sexual advances toward Garcia were unwanted and caused him emotional distress, affecting his ability to perform his job, according to the suit. In his lawsuit, Fuentes said Lopez’s sexual advances toward him “were at all times unwanted” and included “come-ons in the form of unwanted email messages of a sexual nature.” The lawsuit also alleged Lopez retaliated against Fuentes for rejecting his sexual advances. In June 2021, Lopez opposed Fuentes’ promotion to the position of director of economic development. “The thing that gave me the most courage was knowing that the truth was on our side,” Garcia said after Friday’s hearing. “And ultimately, the truth was going to prevail and has prevailed, through this judgement.” Going public with sexual harassment allegations, especially against a city council member, was a big step, but Garcia and Fuentes said after the hearing Friday they felt they had no other choice. “I felt an obligation to not just myself, but to other city employees,” Fuentes said. “If it could happen to me, someone’s who been there, a career employee, for 15 years, someone’s who’s become a department head, it can happen to anyone else on staff.” In court Friday, Lopez repeatedly declined to express remorse or admit guilt, even under repeated questioning by Hannemann. “I don’t believe issuing a compliment to someone on a (career) milestone is a sexual harassment or creating a hostile work environment,” Lopez said. If he could do it all over again, he said, “I wouldn’t pay employees compliments, that’s for sure, or congratulate them.” The closest Lopez came to expressing contrition was telling Mathewson that “I am sorry this all happened.” Lopez told the court he will be unable to pay the damages imposed. He said the most he’s been paid in a year was $50,000, but that was 20 years ago, when he was a Sacramento lobbyist. For about 12 years starting in 2003, Lopez worked as a lobbyist and spokesperson for the Anaheim chapter of the Traditional Values Coalition, an organization labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. As a spokesperson for the coalition, Lopez publicly opposed same-sex marriage, LGBTQ history curriculums in schools and the legal recognition and protections of transgender people. On Friday, Lopez said multiple medical conditions — which he declined to detail in open court — prevent him from getting a high-paying job today, along with the publicity associated with the sexual harassment lawsuit. Related Articles Plan to add 28,000 residents to Hemet will be studied by panel More than 3,000 homes could be coming to eastern Moreno Valley Montclair ‘satisfied’ with judge’s ruling in sexual harassment case, city manager says Perris declares emergency over its struggling finances No new warehouses in Perris for 45 days after council vote The Montclair City Council voted to censure Lopez in April 2022 and removed him from his committee appointments. His access to Montclair City Hall has also been restricted, with Lopez able to access only the council chambers and other areas open to the general public. “To hear your bosses and the higher-ups, ‘we’ve got your back, and whatever we need to do to make sure we get to the truth, we’re going to be doing that,” Garcia said, “I felt supported.” That’s really all the city government or City Council can do. “They’re not empowered to do anything other than point it out to the voters,” Hannemann said after Friday’s hearing. “It’s kind of a loophole for someone like Mr. Lopez to continue to engage in bad behavior. It’s really unfair. I hope the Legislature does something about this.” Lopez declined to comment after the hearing, but said in court that he expected to address the ruling at a future date. The Montclair City Council’s next scheduled meeting is set for 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15 at Montclair City Hall, 5111 Benito St. View this document on Scribd View this document on Scribd More on the Ben Lopez sexual harassment lawsuits Two Montclair employees sue Council Member Ben Lopez for sexual harassment Montclair council censures Ben Lopez following sexual harassment claims Montclair council removes Ben Lopez from committees following censure Montclair’s legal fees top $700,000 in sexual harassment suit against councilmember Montclair suing councilmember at center of $700,000 sexual harassment lawsuit Judge rules Montclair councilmember owes $1.35 million in sexual harassment suit Montclair ‘satisfied’ with judge’s ruling in sexual harassment case, city manager says ...read more read less