Former California Mayor Found Liable for Sexually Assaulting Seven Women, Ordered to Pay $13 Million

Former Windsor, California, Mayor Dominic Foppoli has been found civilly liable for sexually assaulting seven women, with a Sonoma County jury awarding the women approximately $13 million in combined compensatory damages.

The allegations against Foppoli spanned roughly two decades, from 2001 to 2020. The seven plaintiffs, identified in court as Jane Does, accused him of conduct ranging from unwanted sexual contact to rape, with several alleging that alcohol or drugs were used to leave them vulnerable.

Foppoli, who served as mayor of Windsor from 2018 until his resignation in 2021, has consistently denied sexually assaulting the women. He testified during the civil trial and maintained that although he had behaved poorly in some past relationships, he had never committed the acts described in the lawsuit.

The jury deliberated for more than a week before reaching its verdict. Individual compensatory awards ranged from $6,000 to more than $4.6 million, and jurors also found that Foppoli acted with oppression, fraud or malice, allowing the case to proceed to a separate punitive-damages phase.

The Santa Rosa chapter of the Active 20-30 Club, an all-male charitable social organization to which Foppoli belonged, was also found liable in connection with one woman’s assault. That plaintiff was awarded an additional $2 million after alleging the organization failed to properly respond to complaints about Foppoli.

Foppoli has not been criminally charged over the allegations. California’s attorney general suspended a criminal investigation in 2024 after concluding there was insufficient evidence to file charges in cases that were not already barred by statutes of limitations.

His attorney, Andrew Watters, criticized the civil verdict and said the defense intends to seek a mistrial based partly on claims that important defense witnesses were improperly excluded. If that effort fails, the legal team plans to pursue an appeal.

Foppoli resigned as mayor in May 2021 after multiple women publicly accused him of sexual assault. In total, 13 women have publicly accused the former politician of sexual assault or other sexual misconduct, although the latest civil trial involved seven plaintiffs.

The former mayor also faces separate civil litigation from former reality television personality Farrah Abraham, who has accused him of raping her at a Florida house party in 2021. Foppoli has denied wrongdoing, and that case is expected to be tried separately.