Derek Tran blamed victims to defend sexual assaulter
Derek Tran defended a man fired for sexually assaulting women, a bombshell report revealed.
- Tran blamed his victims and the “Me Too” movement — despite claiming in his campaign to “fight for immigrants, workers, survivors of sexual assault.”
- Remember, Tran’s deleted law firm website said “Derek is personally involved in every aspect of every case.”
“These revelations about Derek Tran blaming sexual assault victims to defend their assaulter are deeply disturbing. Tran attacking women to personally profit is despicable and disqualifying.” – NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen
In case you missed it…
Derek Tran’s Nightmare ‘Me Too’ Costco Case
Jake Lahut
August 12, 2024
California Democratic House hopeful Derek Tran is running in one of the most important races in the country.
California’s 45th District, currently held by Rep. Michelle Steel, is one of 14 where Joe Biden won in 2020 with the seat remaining in GOP hands.
Tran is a political newcomer and a promising-looking candidate, an Army veteran coming from family of Vietnamese refugees in a district with one of the largest populations of Vietnamese-Americans in the U.S.
However, Tran’s past legal work could become a liability in the general against Steel.
‘Discriminated against for his gender’
Although he dropped his slate of legal cases for his House bid, one of his former clients stands out as Tran runs on protecting women’s rights.
Tran’s campaign wrote on his Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey in 2023 that holds he holds “bad actors accountable, ensuring that workers, immigrants, and survivors of sexual harassment get the justice they deserve.”
Yet in 2022, Tran began representing a Costco employee who sued the company after three women reported him internally for allegedly sexually assaulting them. Tran’s client argued he was “discriminated against for his gender due to the political climate and ‘me too’ movement.”
In evidence submitted by Costco to dismiss the lawsuit—which remains under active litigation—female employees accused Tran’s former client of repeatedly trying to touch them and remove their clothes, including on one occasion by allegedly cornering a fellow employee with his car before lifting up her shirt and trying to kiss her nipples.
“I would tell him to stop and he would continue until I would get forceful and shove him off or slap him. It should never have to get to that point,” another one of the Costco employees said of Tran’s former client, according to court documents. “A simple no should be more than enough.”
Tran’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment when reached by Straight from the Hut.