State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, who recently made national headlines when she switched her party allegiance from Democrat to Republican, is in the spotlight again this week for altogether different reasons.

The freshman legislator, whose District 4 includes parts of the Westside and its surrounding areas, has been hit with two lawsuits, one by a former employee and the other by a local private investigator.

Alvarado-Gil’s ex-chief of staff, Chad Condit, is suing her for sexual harassment, claiming she forced him to commit sexual acts and then fired him when he stopped.

Condit, the son of former Congressman Gary Condit, filed charges in Sacramento Superior Court against both Alvarado-Gil and the state senate for being in violation of state employment protections.

Meanwhile, Kelley Coelho, owner of Turlock-based B and C Investigations, filed a lawsuit against the senator and her current chief of staff, Vanessa Bravo, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleging that they violated her First Amendment rights by kicking her out of a June 21 press conference at the Turlock Public Safety Facility at 244 N. Broadway.

“I submitted a few complaints to the Senate Ethics Committee and wasn’t getting anywhere with that,” said Coelho, who is seeking $5 million in damages. “I was forced to do something, and this was the right thing to do. Basically, she violated my First Amendment rights … her and her staff.”

According to court documents, Coelho planned to attend a press conference regarding two sexually violent predators who were slated to be conditionally released just outside of Turlock. A bevy of print and television journalists were on hand for the event that featured local law enforcement officials and elected leaders. Coelho alleges she was removed from the press conference by a member of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, at the behest of Alvarado-Gil and Bravo. When she asked for an explanation, she was told it was because she was not a member of the media.

Emails reviewed by the Westside Connect, and also by NBC affiliate KCRA-3 in Sacramento, indicate that Coelho had arranged with Alvarado-Gil’s then-communications director to attend the press conference.

Coelho was forced to listen to the press conference via speakers placed outside to accommodate the overflow crowd. Outside, however, she was unable to ask questions of law enforcement officials and elected leaders.

Bravo did not respond to the Westside Connect’s request for comment regarding the Coelho lawsuit. However, last week she forwarded a statement from the senator’s attorney, Ognian Gavrilov, on the Condit matter. The statement read: “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 Contreras said in a statement, “The Senate has not been served in this matter, but we are in discussion with counsel to assess next steps. The Senate takes all complaints incredibly seriously, but is unable to comment on matters involving pending litigation.”

According to court documents, Condit alleges that Alvarado-Gil shared details about her marriage, sex life and recreational drug use, and asked if he’d ever cheat on his wife. At one point, the senator said she thought Condit would be more like his father, who, when asked about extramarital affairs during a 2001 interview with NBC’s Connie Chung, said “I have not been a perfect man.” The elder Condit had been embroiled in scandal related to the unsolved murder of former Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, a Modesto resident.

By January of 2023, Chad Condit claimed, Alvarado-Gil was using Condit for personal errands during work hours. Alvarado-Gil then began making sexual passes at him, and eventually pressured him into performing oral sex on her, the lawsuit asserts. Condit described how Alvarado-Gil demanded he perform oral sex as a display of his loyalty. One such act, alleged to have taken place in a car, resulted in Condit suffering three herniated discs and an injured hip.

In retaliation for his objections, Condit said Alvarado-Gil prompted the state Senate’s human resources representative to reprimand him. 

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