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(Rumor Mill) Jesse Jackson Accused of Gay Harassment

Rev Jesse Jackson has been accused of sexually harassing a former Rainbow Push Coalition employee named Tony Bennett.

The openly gay former staffer claims that Rev Jesse Jackson propositioned him for oral sex and forced him to perform demeaning tasks like cleaning up Jackson’s room after he had had sex with various women.

Bennett has filed a wrongful termination and discrimination complaint with Chicago’s Commission on Human Rights and is seeking more than $450,000 for back and front pay as well as emotional distress.

Here are more details according to NBC Chicago:

The complaint, filed sometime last year by Tommy R. Bennett, a regular on the Tom Joyner Radio show and member of Barack Obama’s LGBT Leadership Council, includes shocking allegations about Jackson’s behavior toward the openly gay staffer including an allegation that the civil rights leader propositioned him.

Jackson has denied the allegations in a legal response that was filed in July 2010 and resurfaced when the Windy City Times published a story Tuesday.

Bennett, 55, claims Jackson ridiculed him in front of other employees and required him to perform “humiliating tasks” like escorting women to Jackson’s various hotel rooms, cleaning up after alleged trysts and packing his clothing. It also includes an allegation that Jackson asked for oral sex, according to the claim. Jackson flatly denied each claim in his response.

“The Rainbow PUSH Coalition unequivocally deny Tommy Bennett’s false claims of harassment, retaliation and discrimination,” the organization said in a statement released late Thursday, adding that it is “fully cooperating with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations and expect to be fully exonerated.”

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