LA Times Beijing chief Jonathan Kaiman, ex-president of Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, quits after sex harassment investigation
Jonathan Kaiman was accused of sexual harassment by a former Wall Street Journal editor and his roommate
The head of the Los Angeles Times’ Beijing bureau has resigned four months after the newspaper suspended him following sexual harassment complaints brought by two women.
Jonathan Kaiman has left the newspaper, Los Angeles Times spokeswoman Hillary Manning confirmed Tuesday.
Kaiman was suspended last May after the Times launched an investigation into the allegations made by a former Wall Street Journal editor and a former roommate of his.
“I can confirm that the Los Angeles Times completed its investigation into the matter and that Jonathan Kaiman resigned,” Manning said in an email. She added she could provide no further information, citing a personnel matter.
Kaiman did not immediately respond to an email. He previously said his relations with Felicia Sonmez, who worked in China for both The Wall Street Journal and Agence France-Presse, were consensual.
Sonmez said she was giving an intoxicated Kaiman a ride home on her scooter from a Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China party when he lifted up her dress and sexually touched her despite her repeated demands that he stop.