http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-herman-cain-accuser-1108-20111108,0,2247743,full.storyCain accuser has history of financial troubles, legal squabbles
Her father, fiance say they stand with her
10:03 p.m. CST, November 7, 2011
The emerging portrait of Herman Cain's most recent accuser shows a suburban homemaker with a history of financial and legal troubles, but one who supporters say has the guts to do the right thing.
Sharon Bialek, 50, is the fourth woman — and the first publicly — to accuse the Republican presidential hopeful of sexual harassment. In a dramatic news conference Monday in New York, Bialek, a former employee of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, said she had sought Cain's help in finding a new job in July 1997 shortly after the organization had fired her.
Instead, Bialek said, Cain, who was then head of the restaurant association, reached under her skirt while the two were seated in a parked car and attempted to move her head toward his crotch. Cain's campaign quickly issued a denial, calling her allegations "completely false."
Bialek said she shared her allegations with her then-boyfriend and another male friend shortly after her meeting with Cain. However, the man she is now engaged to said she did not tell him about her history with the former Godfather's Pizza CEO until Friday night, when she told him she was going to New York for the news conference.
Her fiance, Mark Harwood, said he was in "a bit of shock" but admired her decision to come forward.
"It's not an anti-political thing. It's not a money thing," said Harwood, who shares a large, five-bedroom home with Bialek in north suburban Mundelein. "She's just trying to do the right thing, and that takes guts."
Born and raised in Chicago, Bialek graduated from Carl Schurz High School on the Northwest Side and briefly attended Northeastern Illinois University before enrolling at Arizona State University. She graduated from ASU in 1983 with a communications degree, a school spokesman said.
Records show she twice has filed for personal bankruptcy, first in 1991 and then again in 2001. In the latter case, she claimed $5,700 in assets and more than $36,000 in liabilities. Among the creditors seeking payment was a management firm demanding back rent of $4,500, four credit card companies and a lawyer asking for his legal fees.
After the case was discharged, she accused a former boyfriend of harassing her for repayment of a loan, court records in the bankruptcy case show. Bialek borrowed $4,500 from William Concha, though Concha now believes she had no intention of paying him back, according to his brother, Mario.
Reached Monday night in Spain, William Concha declined comment.
At least two liens have been filed against Bialek, according to records from the Cook County recorder of deeds.
The IRS filed a tax lien against her in 2009 for nearly $5,200. In August, the Illinois Department of Revenue claimed Bialek owed the state more than $4,300, including penalties and interest, relating to income taxes from 2004, according to county records.
Court records also show creditors took legal action against her during the past decade, including at least one lawsuit filed in Cook County.
Bialek's fiance, however, denied she had any current money problems. Harwood, a corporate executive in the medical equipment industry, said he supports her financially so she can stay at home with her 13-year-old son from a previous relationship.
Bialek has not had a job outside the home in about two years, according to her attorney, Gloria Allred.
After leaving the restaurant foundation in 1997, Bialek worked for five years in WGN Radio's marketing department, Allred said. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined comment on her employment with the station.
Bialek also spent 21/2 years at CBS Radio as managing director for nontraditional revenue, Allred said. She previously had co-hosted a cooking show on television for nine years and worked for Revlon as an account manager and for the Easter Seals Society in corporate development, according to her lawyer.
Allred described her client as a "registered Republican," though Bialek does not have an active voter card in Illinois, election officials said. The state does not allow voters to register by party, but records show she pulled a GOP ballot in the 2008 primary.
As well as becoming acquainted with Cain, Bialek has had at least one more famous friend over the years. Current White Sox analyst Steve Stone confirmed Monday night that he dated Bialek in the 1980s.
Bialek met her fiance online several years ago. After communicating via email for many months, they fell in love on their first date, which lasted 72 hours, Harwood said.
The couple moved in together four years ago and got engaged while vacationing in Venice, Italy, in June 2010.
"Sharon is very much one of these women with a huge heart and always trying to do the right thing," Harwood said. "Sometimes I have to pull the reins in."
Bialek told reporters she had not seen Cain for more than 14 years after the alleged incident, until she went to a tea party convention organized by WIND 560-AM in the northwest suburbs last month. While at the event, she approached Cain, who indicated he remembered her and looked uncomfortable, she said.
"I kept wondering whether he had done to other women what he had done to me and whether anyone was going to speak up about it," she said.
Monday night on CNN, Piers Morgan asked Bialek if she thinks Cain should become president.
"I don't think we can have anyone in the White House who is unable to tell the truth," Bialek replied.
Her father, Chester Bialek, said he did not know about his daughter's allegation until Monday. Reached at his home in Arizona, he said he was surprised by the revelation but supported her decision to come forward.
"I'm very proud of my daughter, that's all I can tell you," he said.
As TV trucks pulled up in front of her Mundelein home and reporters rang the doorbell, Harwood said his fiancee does not plan any legal action against Cain and does not intend to stand in the political spotlight for very long.
"We're in it together," he said. "My only concern is that it not become some type of media circus."
