Cesar Chavez accused of abusing Dolores Huerta, minors

This story was updated to add new information and a new photo.

Renowned civil rights activist Dolores Huerta said that Cesar Chavez, the celebrated labor leader, sexually assaulted her — an allegation she made public due to a New York Times investigation that reported Chavez sexually abused two girls.

The New York Times investigation, published on Wednesday, March 18, includes allegations that Chavez sexually abused two girls while they were under the age of 18. The Times also reported that Chavez raped Huerta in 1966 in Delano, California.

Huerta “said she chose not to report the assault to the police because of their hostility toward the movement, and she feared that no one within the union would believe her,” according to the New York Times.

USA TODAY generally does not name victims of sexual assault. But Huerta spoke out publicly to tell her story, in an interview with the New York Times and in a statement posted online. 

In the statement, Huerta said she could “no longer stay silent” and had to share her own experiences following the New York Times’ investigation.

“As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with Cesar,” Huerta said. “The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”

The New York Times reported that Huerta had felt pressured to have sex with Chavez in an encounter that occurred in 1960.

Huerta, 95, said in her statement those encounters led to pregnancies that she kept secret, and that she had arranged for those children to be raised by other families.

She said that despite developing a “deep relationship with these children,” “no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago.”

Huerta's statement and the New York Times investigation come a day after the United Farm Workers and the Cesar Chavez Foundation came out with statements that acknowledged they had learned of allegations made against Chavez, though the statements did not provide specific details. Huerta, alongside Chavez, was involved in the founding of the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the UFW.

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” Huerta said. “The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.”

Huerta said she is sickened by the “knowledge that he hurt young girls” and her “heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years.”

Huerta reaffirmed her commitment to workers and women’s rights in her statement.

“The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual,” Huerta said. “Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.”

The New York Times reported that “nothing has emerged publicly to back up the claims” made by Huerta, and that her description of assault couldn’t be independently verified because she said she told no one until a few weeks ago.

Chavez, whose work has long been celebrated and whose name spans streets and schools in California and across the nation, died in 1993. The following year, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Bill Clinton. He is celebrated annually on March 31.

What else did the New York Times report?

The New York Times reported allegations of Chavez's abuse made by two women.

One woman said that when she was 15, Chavez invited her to join a march that was “a nearly 60-day event.” The march reached Stockton, California, and on “one night” Chavez told the woman he was sending her home, the Times reported. However, Chavez brought her back to a motel where he "had sexual intercourse with her," the Times reported.

Under California law, it was rape, the New York Times reported.

A different woman said Chavez molested her, according to the New York Times. She said “she was summoned for sexual encounters” with Chavez “dozens of times” over several years, the New York Times said.

Chavez was married to Helen Chavez, who died in 2016. They had eight children together. The New York Times reported that Cesar Chavez also had children with other women.

How did United Farm Workers respond?

A day before the New York Times investigation published, the United Farm Workers said it would not be taking part in any Cesar Chavez Day activities, citing “deeply troubling” allegations involving the civil rights activist who co-founded the union.

“The UFW has learned of deeply troubling allegations that one of the union’s co-founders, Cesar Chavez, behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values,” the union said in a statement on Tuesday, March 17. “Some of the reports are family issues, and not our story to tell or our place to comment on. Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors.”

The UFW said in the statement it did not have firsthand knowledge of the allegations, neither had it received any direct reports. However, the allegations were “serious enough that we feel compelled to take urgent steps to learn more and provide space for people who may have been victimized to find support and to share their stories if that is what they choose.”

The Cesar Chavez Foundation also released a statement on March 17 acknowledging the allegations.

“The Foundation is working with leaders in the Farmworker Movement to be responsive to these allegations, support the people who may have been harmed by his actions, and ensure we are united and guided by our commitment to justice and community empowerment,” the foundation said.

The foundation said that it was establishing "a safe and confidential process for those who wish to share their experiences of historic harm, and, if they choose to, participate in efforts toward repair and reconciliation" in partnership with UFW.

The aftermath of Cesar Chavez allegations

The fallout has begun in the wake of the allegations made against Cesar Chavez.

Houston Public Media reported that an annual Cesar Chavez march was canceled in the Texas city.

The Northern Nevada Member Assistance Program, the nonprofit arm of the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council, said on March 17 that it had renamed its annual Cesar Chavez Celebration to the Solidarity Celebration Dinner in response to the allegations.

The same day, an Instagram post from the city of Lansing in Michigan announced the cancellation of the Legacy of Cesar Chavez Dinner scheduled for March 25 in light of the statement from the foundation.

In California, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said on social media that he intends to “remove the Cesar Chavez Boulevard street name from our city” through an ordinance. It comes as FOX26 reported that a statue of Cesar Chavez at California State University, Fresno, was covered up on March 18.

“The monument to César Chávez in our Peace Garden was erected in 1996 to honor the spirit of peaceful assembly and the broader labor movement that has shaped this region,” Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said in a statement on March 18. “In light of the seriousness of the current revelations, as a first step, we are covering the statue while we determine appropriate next steps for its removal."

Officials respond to allegations

Other officials in California — the state Cesar Chavez has deep ties to — are responding to the news as well.

“We're all absorbing," Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press conference, adding that he and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom are "very close" to Huerta. "So many of us are… for decades and decades, and none of us knew, and we are all processing this. The farm workers movement and a labor movement are much bigger than one man — and we celebrate that and that will be our focus as we process what the next steps are. We're for justice. We're for truth. We're for transparency. We will have the backs of these victims.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said, "I think it’s time to change the name of our March public holiday to ‘Farmworker Day’ in Los Angeles County."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said what Huerta and other accusers “endured is not isolated, nor is it of the past,” in a statement.

“Real progress requires more than moments of reckoning – it demands sustained action to dismantle social, cultural, economic, and political structures that have hurt women throughout our history,” Bass said.

“Dolores and leaders like her inspired so many of us to activism,” the Los Angeles mayor said. “Mr. Chavez's crimes do not diminish the courage of farm workers and workers everywhere who fight for their rights, equality for Latinos, and a stronger nation for everyone.”

The abuse allegations landed hard in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where Chavez rose to prominence and carried out much of his organizing work. Lali Moheno — a former farmworker and longtime labor advocate who trained and traveled with Chavez during organizing efforts in South Texas — said the allegations raised by Huerta left her deeply unsettled, even though she said she never personally witnessed or experienced misconduct by Chavez.

“I couldn’t even sleep last night when I first read about it,” Moheno, who is a former Tulare County supervisor, said.

Moheno said she supports women who come forward and believes they should be protected, and she also remains "respectful" of Chavez’s legacy of advancing farmworker rights. She credited Chavez with securing lifesaving protections for fieldworkers, including access to drinking water, rest breaks and toilets.

At the same time, Moheno described the widespread harassment and abuse farmworker women have long faced — including herself and her mother — that often went unreported because of fear of retaliation and job loss. “If we reported anything, we were out of a job,” she said.

Moheno has spent years bringing attention to sexual harassment and abuse in the agricultural workforce, including elevating those concerns to international audiences. She has spoken about the issue at the United Nations, highlighting the fear, retaliation and silence that often surround abuse in the fields.

Contributing: Trevor Hughes and Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY; Steve Pastis, Visalia Times-Delta; James Ward, The Desert Sun