Lifelong Ceres resident Chad Condit is suing his former boss, California State Senator Marie Alvardo-Gil, making explosive accusations that she sexually abused him and exercised an “abuse of power” while he served as her chief of staff.

Condit, who was fired by Alvarado-Gil effective Dec. 31, 2023, is seeking compensation for lost wages, loss of earning capacity, employee benefits and damages for emotional distress.

In a complaint filed last week in Sacramento Superior Court, Condit’s attorneys claim that the senator began grooming Condit for sexual favors beginning in December 2022. That led to him occasionally performing oral sex on her until an encounter in which he injured his back, he alleges.

Condit, who is the son of former Congressman Gary A. Condit and the father of Supervisor Channce Condit, former Councilman Couper Condit and Ceres mayoral hopeful Gary M. Condit, filed the suit against Alvarado-Gil and the state senate for being in violation of state employment protections.

Alvarado-Gil’s new chief of staff, Vanessa Bravo, released this statement to the media through the senator’s attorney, Ognian Gavrilov: “A disgruntled former employee has fabricated an outlandish story, presented without evidence, to get a payday. We expect that the senator will be fully cleared of any wrongdoing of these bogus, financially motivated claims.”

Secretary of the Senate Erika Contreas said the Senate is taking Condit’s complaint seriously and in “discussions with counsel to assess next steps.” She was unable to comment due to the pending litigation.

The complaint comes a month after Alvarado-Gil left the Democratic Party to become a Republican. The Democrat dominated Legislature stripped her of committee assignments as a result.

Condit, who failed in his bid for state Assembly in the 2022 primary, was asked by Alvarado-Gil to help run her campaign. She won the election and appointed Condit as her chief of staff.

According to Condit, Vanessa Brown, a friend of Alvarado-Gil’s since childhood joined the staff and began taking over his duties, claiming she was not experienced but “proved herself tolerant and supportive of Alvarado-Gil’s discrimination, harassment and retaliation” toward him.

Condit claims Alvarado-Gil asked him if he had ever cheated on his wife and if he would ever be intimate with a boss. Condit claims she would “openly talk about her vices which included sex and using the drug ayahuasca.”

In one instance, Condit’s suit charges, the legislator referenced his father’s alleged past affairs that surfaced during the Chandra Levy scandal, and asked if he would “be like his father — insinuating that he should be open to a sexual relationship with her.”

The suit charges that the senator often shared embarrassing personal information relating to her sexual desires. On one occasion, Condit said she called him to her hotel room after a crab feed in Mariposa to look at her head after she bumped it. When he looked at her head and went to fetch some ice, he returned to find her sitting on the edge of the bed only wearing a T-shirt and commented to Condit that he resembled Brad Pitt. He also claims that Deputy Chief of Staff Bravo was present and called Alvarado-Gil “bipolar.” 

On a drive together to Inyo County – part of her district – Condit says they pulled over to use a restroom and when he returned to the car, she had her pants down and legs spread and said, “I want you to kiss it and prove your loyalty.” The complaint went on: “After months of creating a dominant-submissive relationship, PLAINTIFF was numbed and acted without thinking and it went from there with Alvarado-Gil establishing her ability to dominate him. PLAINTIFF briefly performed as demanded until she was satisfied by his submission to her.”

Condit alleged that during the final act of performing oral sex in a car, he suffered a back injury “having to twist and contort” and resulting in three herniated spinal discs and a “collapsed hip.”

Condit’s attorneys claim she continued to occasionally push for oral sex and when he pointed out that he was physically injured it “made her unhappy with him.”

In August 2023, things began unraveling between Condit and Alvarado-Gil when she and Bravo sought to get Condit fired – he claims – as “punishment and retaliation.”

He alleges that she privately told him that he would not work for anyone but her, “which confirmed the threat to his job security and public employee position posed by refusing her sexualized behavior and demands,” his law firm wrote.

Condit claims that Alvarado-Gil began accusing him of having a girlfriend and went to the Condit home with a staff member to explain to his wife Helen that he was stressed because he was seeing someone else.

After Condit underwent hip surgery in the fall, the senator allegedly tried to get Condit to resign by offering to hire his wife, who previously worked in the Ceres office of state Senator Anthony Cannella. Condit’s last day on the job was Dec. 31, 2023.

He then filed suit, saying she further aggravated his physical problems by not accommodating his workplace limitations.

Condit’s attorneys claim that he has “moments of total despair, headaches, fatigue, guilt and shame, and seeks to avoid friends and family. He showed the signs and symptoms of abuse, becoming numb, emotionally detached and depressed. The fact that he is a man, does not take away from the shame at being put into submission by his boss.”

On Aug. 23, staff member Destiny Suarez, who recently married Gary M. Condit, Chad’s son and mayoral candidate, announced she was no longer working for Alvarado-Gil.

It’s unclear if Alvarado-Gil’s falling out with County Supervisor Channce Condit over a $5 million state grant is related to issues with his dad.

In July 2023, Alvarado-Gil and Supervisor Condit posed together for a south Modesto photo-op heralding the awarding of a $5 million state grant to make infrastructure improvements there. But this past June, things got ugly between the two when the senator called for California State Attorney General Ron Bonta to investigate whether Chad Condit “followed the legal process in which public dollars may be requested from a government agency and my office. This matter has been referred to the State Attorney General for further investigation.”

Supervisor Condit accused Alvarado-Gil of “almost” having amnesia and claims “she authorized this every step of the way.” He also alleged that the senator was acting out of revenge because of her falling out with his father.