Labor leader Cesar Chavez is accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls in the 1970s as well as fellow farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, according to an investigation from the New York Times. Huerta told the paper that she was raped by Chavez in a grape field in Delano in 1966. “This is deeply painful to our family.”Huerta said she experienced two separate sexual encounters with Chavez. Gavin Newsom said the state will focus on honoring “a farmworkers’ movement and a labor movement that was much bigger than one man” when deciding how to handle Cesar Chavez Day. The foundation said it was working with leaders in the farmworker movement to be responsive to these allegations and support the people who might have been harmed.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 18, 2026 20:43 UTC