Former council candidate sued in sexual harassment

A former 2020 Danville Town Council candidate is being sued for alleged sexual harassment, including allegations of drugging a woman and trying to sexually assault her.

Allen Timmons was one of nine candidates who ran for Town Council in November, coming in seventh place with 5.8% of the vote.

A lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court in March by a former female employee who worked for him at his company, Western Steel and Wire in San Francisco.

The employee, whom this newspaper is not naming and referring only to as “Ms. S,” is accusing Timmons of sexual harassment, ranging from sexualized comments to inappropriate touching in the workplace. The allegations came to a head when Timmons allegedly drugged the woman’s drink during a work dinner, and he’s accused of trying to sexually assault her, the suit asserts.

Although the lawsuit was publicly filed March 19, when reached by phone Thursday, Timmons said he was not aware of the lawsuit or its allegations.

An attorney for Timmons said in an email they have not yet seen the complaint and could not respond specifically.

“However, it is important for the reputation of all concerned that this matter be portrayed as allegations, and not as proven facts. We ask that people would reserve judgment or conclusions until the facts are determined,” said Timmons’ attorney, Michael Farbstein.

Ms. S began working for Timmons’ company, Western Steel and Wire, in September 2018 as a part-time employee with clerical and marketing duties.

The lawsuit alleges that she was told she would share an office and desk with Timmons, and he kept the door closed. She also alleges that he placed his hands over hers to move a computer mouse, or touched her shoulders as he was explaining how to complete tasks. She told him she did not want to be touched, and he “brushed off her concerns,” saying he was just a very affectionate person, the lawsuit says.

But the alleged behavior escalated, when Timmons is accused of insisting that the two share a hotel room for a conference in Anaheim. He ultimately dropped out of the trip and Ms. S went alone. Timmons told her to speak to a potential client for business, but is said to have gotten “worried” when she had dinner with that client and another person.

“Timmons told (Ms. S) that he could not sleep because he imagined her rescheduling her flight to spend the night with (the client),” the lawsuit says.

During happy hours that Timmons supposedly called “brainstorming sessions,” he is accused of making inappropriate remarks about her body, once even trying to guess her breast size, despite her telling him to stop.

During one of these brainstorming sessions, he came up with an idea of a magazine of bikini-clad women to drum up business.

“Timmons explained that the pictures of bikini-clad and nude women would taste and smell like marijuana so that men could potentially lick body parts on the picture,” the lawsuit states.

He allegedly asked Ms. S to be on billboard advertisements, featuring her nearly nude, wrapped only in steel wire. The suggestions made her uncomfortable.

Other allegations include Timmons asking personal questions about Ms. S’s life, including her relationship with her boyfriend. When Ms. S told him the relationship was serious enough that they were trying to have a baby, Timmons told Ms. S “that she could not have children with her boyfriend because he had dark features, unlike hers, and that would affect the race of their child,” the lawsuit alleges.

He allegedly boasted to her if they had tried to conceive a child together, that she would be pregnant within a month.

During a client work dinner in Menlo Park in April 2019, when Ms. S left her wine glass unattended, she believes she was drugged by Timmons. Despite only having had two glasses of wine, she felt so disoriented after the dinner, two strangers asked her if she was OK.

Timmons allegedly tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away. She does not remember much of the ride home from Menlo Park back to San Francisco, where Timmons drove them back. He allegedly made inappropriate sexual remarks during the ride to her, she said. She said she was so inebriated she could not unlock her door.

She was so concerned she went to the hospital the next day to be tested for drugs in her system. Although she tested negative, doctors told her they do not test for newer date rape drugs.

Ms. S left her job after that. The lawsuit alleges Timmons continued to contact her through text and email, asking her to work for him again.

According to Timmons’ campaign website, he ran on a platform of transparency to “Save Danville” and its small-town feel, to focus on limited growth.

“Look at what’s happening in other neighboring cities; uncontrolled growth with no thought to infrastructure, architecture, overcrowding and no regard to what its citizens want; crime; disrespect and lack of support for our police; racial tensions. I fear these things are heading our way if not already here,” Timmons wrote on his campaign website.

The lawsuit does not seek a specific amount in damages and asks for a jury trial.