Cain made out-of-court settlement for sex harassment

Politico.com website reported late Sunday that at least two women accused Cain of making inappropriate comments and contact while he headed the National Restaurant Association, a Washington trade lobbying group.

Politico said that the women complained Cain had made sexually suggestive questions, comments and gestures that made them uncomfortable.

The report said the women received undisclosed financial settlements as a result of their complaints, and subsequently left the organization.

A spokesman for Cain late Sunday dismissed what he called a "thinly-sourced allegation" against Cain, who only recently broke into the ranks of Republican frontrunners in the White House race.

"All I\'m telling you right now is, this is something the establishment is trying to attack Mr Cain on," spokesman J.D. Gordon said, promising that Cain "will be speaking publicly on this very soon."

Cain was due to make at least two public appearances in Washington on Monday, and news reports said he was likely to address the reports at that time.

But speaking to Fox News late Sunday Gordon would neither confirm nor deny the charges.

"These are thin allegations, this is non-sourced. This is not even a sourced allegation," said Gordon.

"We\'ve seen this movie played out before," the spokesman said, adding that his boss was, in his view, being "targeted by liberals just because they disagree with this politics."

Gordon added: "Mr Cain deserves better than this."

Cain, a lifelong businessman who is the former CEO of the Godfather\'s Pizza chain, is also an ordained minister who has been married for some four decades.

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