A political consultant who helped Kevin Beiser get elected to the San Diego Unified School Board filed suit against Beiser Monday, alleging sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The lawsuit claims Beiser, a middle school teacher who has served on the board of the state’s second-largest school district for more than eight years, exploited his political power and status to coerce the consultant into sexually abusive situations over the course of five years.

Beiser, 50, could not be reached Monday evening for comment. He did not respond to telephone messages, emails or a doorbell ring at his home.

The consultant is referred to as John Doe in the lawsuit. The San Diego Union-Tribune is not identifying Doe because he said he is a victim of sexual assault.


The lawsuit alleges that when he first met Beiser, Doe was a college student who wanted to get into politics.

He saw Beiser as someone with political clout who could help him build his career. Beiser gave him jobs and helped him fundraise, the lawsuit said.

Doe soon came to believe that was all contingent on him submitting to Beiser’s sexual conduct, the lawsuit said.

Beiser has served on the San Diego Unified School Board since 2010 and was re-elected for a third term in November. His current term will expire in 2022. Last year, he was the school board president.


According to his biography on the district website, Beiser had a career in management with a Fortune 500 company before becoming an educator. The site notes that he was named San Diego Math Teacher of the Year and received a Distinguished Service Award for work with the Gifted and Talented Education Program.

Beiser also intends to run for San Diego City Council next year, according to city records. He teaches at Castle Park Middle School in the Sweetwater Union High School District, according to the school’s website.

Doe said he filed suit to prevent others from being abused.

“I have nothing to gain from this,” he said in an interview. “So for me, I just want him … I want it to stop.”


The suit seeks unspecified damages.

The lawsuit alleges the abuse began after Doe met Beiser in 2013 in Washington, D.C. Doe was a San Diego State University student interning in the capital, according to the lawsuit.

Beiser offered Doe a job working on his school board campaign, then invited him to a bar in D.C., saying he would be there with some friends, the lawsuit claimed.

Doe went to the bar hoping to expand his political connections and clams he soon found himself alone with Beiser.


Beiser allegedly bought several alcoholic drinks for Doe, who became drunk, the lawsuit said. Then Beiser took Doe to a hotel and sexually assaulted him, the lawsuit said.

Afterward, Doe told Beiser he felt shame and regret about what happened, according to the lawsuit. Beiser allegedly responded with more sexual advances, the suit said.

Beiser eventually offered Doe a job working on his 2014 school board campaign. According to the lawsuit, Doe told Beiser he was not sexually interested in him, and Beiser said he would keep their relationship professional.

Over the course of several months while working on the campaign, Beiser “created a sexually offensive and hostile work environment” for Doe, the lawsuit claimed.


The lawsuit alleges that Beiser solicited sex from Doe and touched him inappropriately, among other claims.

According to the lawsuit, this occurred at Beiser’s home, which served as the campaign’s headquarters.

After Beiser was re-elected to the school board in 2014, Doe avoided contact with him until 2016, when Doe sought Beiser’s fundraising help for his own bid for City Council.

The lawsuit alleges that Beiser continued to harass Doe and suggested that since he no longer worked for him, Doe was free to engage in sexual contact with him. Doe objected but Beiser allegedly continued the abuse, the lawsuit said.


In May 2016, according to the lawsuit, Doe and his girlfriend confronted Beiser and told him not to touch him sexually again.

Doe lost the City Council election.

In 2017, Doe asked for Beiser’s help to fundraise for a political action committee he had created, according to the lawsuit. Doe still believed Beiser was a “rising star” and a “fundraising powerhouse” on the political scene, according to the lawsuit, and he “naively held hope” for a business relationship with Beiser.

In January 2018, Beiser hired Doe as a consultant for his latest school board campaign.


According to the lawsuit, a month later, after Doe told Beiser that he “was in a pretty weird headspace,” Beiser allegedly offered the use of his hot tub and suggested that Doe get a massage. Doe said he responded, “Don’t come on to me.”

Beiser fired Doe two months later, the lawsuit said. Doe said Beiser told him he didn’t need his services anymore.

Doe said he believes he was fired because he rejected Beiser.

When Doe came to Beiser’s home to get his paycheck in April, Beiser assaulted him again, the lawsuit said.


The lawsuit said he suffered lost income, medical and psychological expenses and emotional distress.

Kristen Taketa

Email: kristen.taketa@sduniontribune.com


Twitter: @Kristen_Taketa