Dominic Caserta

Dominic Caserta (born 1975) is a former member of the Santa Clara City Council and has been a local educator since 1997.

Background Caserta is of Portuguese and Italian descent and is a fifth-generation resident of Santa Clara.

In 2010, the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation awarded Caserta a fellowship. He used the fellowship to attend San Francisco State University, and earned a master's degree in political science. Foothill College, San Jose State University, and San Francisco State University.

Political career On November 5, 2002, Caserta won election to Seat #2 on the Santa Clara City Council. He was re-elected on November 7, 2006. In 2008, Caserta ran for California State Assembly District 22, but lost to Paul Fong in the Democratic primaries. On November 4, 2014, Caserta won election to Seat #5 on the Santa Clara City Council. During his time as Seat #5, Caserta served on multiple committees, including the Ethics Committee.

Sexual misconduct allegations Allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct perpetrated by Caserta were first reported on May 8, 2018, after the Santa Clara Unified School District sent an email to all district employees containing his confidential personnel file. The allegations were made in early May 2018 by a former 19 year old campaign volunteer, Lydia Jungkind. Jungkind has accused Caserta of several instances of unwanted sexual advances during her time as a volunteer for Caserta's Board of Supervisor's campaign. In the preceding weeks, 9 individuals made reports against Caserta, ranging from allegations of misconduct to allegations of sexual battery. On August 15, 2018, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced that Caserta would not face any charges, stating “After a thorough review and legal analysis of Dominic Caserta’s behavior...our office has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to file criminal charges”.

On May 15, 2018, Caserta resigned from the Santa Clara City Council and ended his campaign for Santa Clara County Supervisor.

On January 21, 2019, Caserta voluntarily participated in a polygraph examination "in an attempt to dispel all duplicitous accusations” made against him from Jungkind. On the examination he was reported to have scored 99.9 percent.

On May 1, 2019, it was reported that Caserta had filed a lawsuit against the Santa Clara Unified School District over the damage caused from accidentally sending an email to all district employees containing his personnel file. Caserta requested an unspecified amount in punitive monetary damages from the court.

Notable initiatives Caserta successfully led the effort to enact a $15 minimum wage by 2019, three years before a minimum wage increase will be mandated by the State of California.

In 2017, Caserta successfully championed a worker retention ordinance for Silicon Valley. The ordinance, first of its kind, received unanimous support from the Santa Clara City Council and will provide job security for food and building service workers in Santa Clara.