SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A batch of messages between Nathan Fletcher’s accuser and a friend were released in court documents on Friday, shedding new light on the nature of the three encounters at the center of her lawsuit against the embattled former county supervisor.
The messages were released in a new court filing by Fletcher’s lawyers in an effort to obtain the complete cache of messages between former MTS employee Grecia Figueroa and her friend, Danielle Radin, discussing the allegations of sexual misconduct detailed in her lawsuit.
Radin, who is a Los Angeles-based journalist, previously worked at FOX 5 San Diego before the events at the center of the case transpired.
Earlier this year, Fletcher’s attorneys asked the court to compel Radin to disclose the texts in the course of discovery, believing it would affirm his recounting of their interactions as consensual and support his countersuit for defamation.
Previously disclosed messages between Fletcher and Figueroa appeared to show at least some degree of a consensual relationship online. The texts with Radin that were released on Friday — while incomplete — raise additional questions about the nature of their in-person encounters.
Timeline: Unfolding of the Nathan Fletcher scandal
In the filing Friday, the former supervisor’s attorneys argue the messages “all but eviscerate [Figueroa’s] allegations against Mr. Fletcher.”
Throughout the over 150 pages of messages that were turned over, Figueroa appears to have mixed feelings towards Fletcher, at times calling him “zaddy,” which is a slang term to describe a sexually attractive older man, and others saying he is a “classic narcissist.”
She also describes feeling excited about their flirtatious interactions at first, before a noticeable shift occurs in mid-2022 after what appeared to be several months of back and forth when she begins to describe the interactions as harmful to her mental health.
This is also around the same time that MTS officials began to explore putting probationary language in her job performance review, which was the precursor to her eventual firing, according to a report from an independent investigation into her wrongful termination claims.
Disclosure of the remaining messages is being challenged by both Figueroa and Radin, who is claiming privileges for investigative reporters’ interactions with confidential sources and domestic abuse counselors.
FOX 5/KUSI reached out to Figueroa’s attorney and Radin for comment on the latest filings, but did not receive a response prior to publication. However, in a separate filing, Radin’s attorneys said she had produced everything that was in her control.
Fletcher, Figueroa begin talking
The first messages in the court filing begin on Dec. 21, 2021. The texts reference Fletcher, who was chair of the MTS Board of Directors at the time, looking at Figueroa’s Instagram story despite not following her on the platform.
The texts then describe an escalation to direct messages between Fletcher and Figueroa. Talking to her friend, Figueroa describes the then-chair of the MTS board implicitly asking her to come over, but she does not meet him in person outside of work until early May 2022.
Prior to that meeting, she lamented in the texts about the supervisor being unavailable due to his marriage, later saying “I’ll just show him how smart I am and hopefully he will divorce his wife and realize he just met the actual love of his life.”
The meeting in May 2022 was the first physical encounter between the two described in Figueroa’s lawsuit. According to her complaint, she said Fletcher asked her to visit him for a drink at the hotel he was staying at with his family.
She came to the hotel and met with Fletcher in the stairwell, where he was described as attempting several advances before kissing her, her lawsuit said.
MTS enters discovery clashes in Fletcher sexual misconduct lawsuit
According to Friday’s filing, three hours into the meeting, Figueroa texts Radin saying, “So if I want to have sex with this man … I can.” She adds that she told him they “could not go there.”
She follows up that text shortly after saying he attempted to make a move again and they kissed — something she attributes to being intoxicated due to the “3 f—- beers” they had.
In a text to Radin after leaving the hotel, Figueroa describes the encounter as “the wildest dream I could have had,” adding that she did not know how to feel about it because it “was great” but “felt sooooo wrong.”
The following day, Figueroa sent Radin a screenshot of Instagram direct messages between the two where Fletcher said “As amazing as I dreamt.” In her message to Radin, Figueroa referenced this text, saying “I told you about my dreams with him no???”
Figueroa then followed it up by telling Radin the interactions were “top secret” and that it had “escalated to a new level.”
“At least he’s going to move back to his actual house next week. So it will all be done there,” she continued. “No more stairwells.”
According to court documents, Figueroa says in a text to Radin in mid-May that “He’s obsessed and it’s mutual,” but she later stated she would not meet up with him at his house. However, she said she will “continue to love every second of being his emotional support mistress.”
Encounters at the MTS building
The first alleged incident of sexual assault occurred a few weeks after the stairwell encounter, in early June. According to Friday’s filing, Figueroa texts Radin on that day to tell her Fletcher had been messaging her during a MTS Board of Directors meeting.
Several hours later, Figueroa tells her friend, “Omg / I just saw him / And he kissed me … Having a make out session was not in my plans today.” As it was described in her lawsuit, Figueroa said Fletcher initiated the physical intimacy in a MTS conference room, but she “pushed him back.”
Radin replies “That is like so hot though,” to which Figueroa responds in agreement with three fire emojis.
Throughout July, Figueroa continues to message Radin about “Zaddy fletch” and an apparent desire to see him again, but then at the end of August she texts her friend saying she had decided to end things with Fletcher, according to his counsel’s filing.
Radin replies, “Noooo!! Having the connection will help so much with the salary negotiation if it comes to that!! / If you cut it off he won’t be inclined to help / Plus you’ll still see each other at work and it’ll be hella awkward.”
Figueroa responds, saying “I don’t think so.. he’s forever indebted to me… since I’m keeping his dirty secret” and “It’s so awkward… i hate how much he’s part of my work.”
After a few more messages, Radin says “If you tell him don’t talk to me and then he has to talk to you for various reasons and he feels uncomfortable, you run the risk of him trying to get you out” — a hypothetical that Figueroa responds to saying “I don’t think he would.”
New lawsuit emerges in Fletcher sexual misconduct scandal
Figueroa then says “This is my fault,” which Radin pushes back against saying “You’re not the one that’s married and in a position of power … It’s his fault now you have to cope with this weird position he put you in.”
Radin continues, “I know it feels hopeless and like you’re stuck just dealing with him over and over but you’re actually in a position of power. If he is caught winking at your or flirting and you don’t engage at all, that’s going to make HIM look bad, and make you look like a victim of his unwarranted advances, then they’ll inevitably separate you two anyway if it goes on. No one is going to find out what happened. Nobody at work will ever know. And you’re in a position where you can get whatever the f— you ask for at work.”
In a subsequent text, Radin adds, “You had a crush on him for years, it was exciting to have some flirtation, you got validated that it wasn’t all in your head he felt it too, it was exciting, like there was a time and a place for it to happen. but if you’ve had enough of it you can emotionally back off and let him dig a grave for himself if he still wants to blatantly flirt with you.”
Figueroa appears to step back for several weeks. During that time, Figueroa’s tone about Fletcher changes in the court filing, calling him a “classic narcissist.”
The second alleged instance of sexual assault in Figueroa’s lawsuit occurred later on Dec. 1, 2022. In the court filing, the then-MTS employee texts Radin on this day, saying she and Fletcher had “a heavy heavy make out sesh” in an MTS conference room.
Figueroa’s initial complaint said the former supervisor pulled off some of her clothes and engaged in more aggressive sexual behavior. In the texts, she recalled him going “right up my shirt” in the conference room and that she needed “a second to breathe.”
Among the final messages in the batch released by Fletcher’s lawyers show another conversation that happened on Jan. 7, 2023 where Figueroa and Radin discuss her ending things again.
In the texts, Figueroa describes her emotions regarding the relationship in a way that “almost felt like what it would be coming close to suicide” as she had nowhere to go and felt helpless.
The final message included in the court documents was on Jan. 19, 2023, about three weeks before she was fired by MTS, where Figueora comments on Fletcher’s beard after he messaged her on Instagram while in a Zoom meeting.
What happens next?
Fletcher’s attorneys are arguing these messages could be enough for a judge to dismiss Figueroa’s lawsuit — something they say they are actively seeking.
“Each of the three instances where these two people kissed, the text messages reveal that it was completely and utterly consensual,” Sam Sherman, one of Fletcher’s defense attorneys, told FOX 5/KUSI Monday night.
Its impact on the former supervisor’s career could also make a jury more inclined to believe his defamation claim, which are notoriously hard to litigate when a public official is involved due to the high “actual malice” standard.
For public officials, like politicians, their counsel in a defamation case will have to prove that statements at its center were not only false and harmful, but made with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of its veracity.
Top officer sues MTS for retaliation over fallout of Nathan Fletcher scandal
Both parties are expected to meet later this week on Thursday, Aug. 30 for a hearing on a motion regarding sanctions against Figueroa and Radin for failure to produce requested evidence in the course of discovery thus far.
A trial date has been set for February 2025, although additional hearings on motions to dismiss the suit are scheduled for mid-October.
Outside Figueroa’s case, there have been two additional retaliation lawsuits filed against MTS and San Diego County centered on allegations of sexual misconduct by Fletcher. These cases remain in the early stages and it is unclear how they could be impacted by Figueroa’s suit.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Source Agencies
