Former Liberal cabinet minister facing accusations of sexual harassment: lawyer

The provincial Liberals may be dealing with their own sexual misconduct allegations.

Lawyer John Nunziata tweeted that he’s been retained by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted and abused by a former Liberal cabinet minister, who is no longer in office.

Nunziata’s client says that while she was the cabinet minister’s executive assistant, the cabinet minister groped and sexually harassed her.

Nunziata would not disclose the name of his client or the accused former cabinet minister.

Nunziata told CityNews it took weeks for the premier’s office to respond.

The premier’s office said it doesn’t know what Nunziata is referring to in his tweet.

However, they can confirm that since becoming premier in 2013, Kathleen Wynne has not been informed of any complaints of this nature against any member of her cabinet.

“It was about three weeks ago that there was information and then the process has been underway. Its very important to me, whenever there is an allegation, whenever there is a complaint, that that process be engaged and that action is taken; and my understanding is that has happened,” Wynne told CityNews on Friday.

“I did not know that this particular instance, but because there is a process in place, at a relevant point I would’ve been informed,” Wynne added.

“I expect the Premier’s office to be forthright. She’s lost credibility,” Nunziata, a former Liberal MP said in response to hearing what Wynne said.

The allegations date back to when Dalton McGuinty was premier.

Nunziata said his client isn’t seeking financial compensation or pursuing criminal charges. Instead, he says, she is looking for the party to develop an appropriate procedure for investigating and handling these allegations.