Ex-Windsor mayor faces new sexual assault lawsuit
Former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli is facing a third lawsuit in Sonoma County related to more than a dozen women’s allegations of sexual assault.
Farrah Abraham, a former reality TV star, filed the lawsuit in December accusing Foppoli of assaulting her in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2021. She is one of 14 women who have accused the one-time Windsor Mayor of sexual assault or misconduct.
Police in Palm Beach suspended their criminal investigation into Abraham’s allegations last year, citing a lack of witnesses to the alleged assault and their inability to compel those living out-of-state, including Foppoli, to provide statements.
Foppoli, 40, has denied that he sexually assaulted any women. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Foppoli resigned as mayor in May 2021 after The Chronicle emailed him questions about Abraham’s police report.
In her civil complaint, Abraham alleges seven causes of action, including sexual assault and battery, gender violence and infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit also names Christopher Creek Winery, the estate outside Healdsburg that Foppoli co-owns, and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
“Ms. Abraham is very happy that the case is moving forward and her hope is to seek justice,” said Spencer Kuvin, one of the lawyers representing Abraham. “We are filing the lawsuit in Sonoma County because we believe that, with the number of women who have been abused by Mr. Foppoli, that there are strength in numbers.”
Seven of Foppoli’s accusers filed a lawsuit in April, accusing the former mayor of sexual assault and alleging that other Christopher Creek leaders enabled him. The following month, a Montana woman also filed a lawsuit against Foppoli, accusing him of raping her several times in 2020 when she was 18 years old.
In her suit, Abraham alleges that she met Foppoli in March 2021 at a wine tasting hosted by Foppoli and Christopher Creek Winery at the Palm Beach residence of one of Foppoli’s friends.
During the course of the evening, Abraham said that she agreed to purchase wine from Foppoli, who later asked if she wanted to see the home’s guest house. She said the last thing she remembers is entering the pool area near the guest house. After regaining consciousness the next morning, Abraham told police and restates in her lawsuit, she realized she was naked under a bed sheet next to Foppoli.
Abraham said she asked Foppoli what had happened the night before. He responded, according to Abraham, “We’re both adults.”
She said she then went to the bathroom and saw that she had a cut on her foot and bruising on her leg. “She knew she had been raped,” according to the civil complaint.
When Abraham later told Foppoli that she was not going to move forward with the wine purchase, Abraham said that Foppoli, who was then Mayor of Windsor, told her she should “not tell anyone about the night due to his job and the community.”
In response to the Chronicle investigations, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office launched a criminal inquiry into the allegations against Foppoli in April 2021. The sheriff ’s office has since sent its case to the California Attorney General’s Office, which will decide whether to bring charges against Foppoli. The state office did not respond to emails Wednesday asking about the status of the investigation.