Elusive Paula Jones talks to Daily Forty-Niner
- By Emily Nash and Randi D. Bemiss, On-line Forty-Niner
- April 14,1998
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- Student journalists stake out plaintiff's home, get quick interview.
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- The elusive Paula Corbin Jones, whose sexual harassment suit against
President Clinton was dismissed last week in federal court, took a rare
moment to speak with reporters without her spokeswoman, Susan Carpenter-McMillan,
at her side.
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- Surprisingly, Jones turned the tables on Daily Forty-Niner reporters
and asked them the questions. As usual, she chose not to discuss corporate
glass ceilings or the sexual harassment suit; rather she chose to share
pregnancy woes.
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- "Do you get morning sickness?" Jones asked pregnant reporter
Randi D. Bemiss.
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- Dressed in jeans and a white turtleneck, Jones casually greeted the
Daily Forty-Niner with a down-to-earth personality.
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- The woman, who has been evading the media since she filed a civil suit
against Clinton in 1994, was polite and amenable to talking about women's
issues.
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- While she talked, her blond and brown-haired children watched with
wide, searching eyes and smiles as dimpled as orange peels, suggesting
that they too are coping with the attention.
- Jones spoke apart from the hustle and bustle of the media frenzy, her
thick Southern drawl in full array.
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- A tip from a Long Beach resident, who knows what street Jones lives
on, led the Daily Forty-Niner to her Long Beach neighborhood, somewhat
near the newspaper's offices. There, neighbors confirmed her residence.
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- After a day-long stakeout during spring break, reporters spotted Jones
leaving her home with her family. In an effort to get a personal interview
with her, the Daily Forty-Niner reporters followed them in a vehicle pursuit.
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- After losing sight of her, they soon noticed the Jones' Mercedes Benz
and followed it into a gas station.
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- Not until her husband, Stephen Jones, got out of the car to pump gas
did the opportunity abound for reporters to give him a note requesting
a few words with Paula.
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- Jones' new hairstyle, which even the Washington Post took notice of,
seemed to fascinate her as much as it did others.
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- Before the interview, Jones stroked her hair as she gazed in the passenger
side mirror of the car her husband drove. In a January 16 article, the
Post stated, "Jones is sleeker, softer and sexier than she was in
'94."
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- Jones has lived a life of seclusion since she filed her case years
ago.
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- A sign in red capital letters posted above the wrought-iron-gated garage
entrance to her home reads, "No Trespassing or Soliciting. Violators
Will Be Prosecuted." Her lifestyle seems to echo the warning.
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- Yet, on that clear day, Jones was running a normal errand just as any
other citizen does.
- Jones has constantly been instructed by her lawyers and spokeswoman
not to speak about the case.
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- "At the right time, there will be a proper forum for talking about
the case," Jones said, when asked about the changes her allegations
have brought to her personal life.
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- "At the right time, there will be a proper forum for
- talking about the case."
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- -Paula Corbin Jones
-
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- In the case, Jones alleged she was propositioned sexually by Clinton
in an Arkansas hotel room in 1991.
However, two weeks ago U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright
threw out the case, saying Jones failed to produce enough evidence to prove
sexual harassment or workplace discrimination.
Jones declined to comment on the dismissal, but said she would be talking
publicly about the case this week.
Although she did not promise the Daily Forty-Niner a second interview,
she said, "I have your phone numbers."
Jones' husband waited patiently while Paula posed for a photo.
"I don't think I was smiling in that picture," she said chuckling
and agreed to pose again.
Before Jones departed, the reporters offered Jones a March issue of the
Daily Forty-Niner.
"Thank you," Jones said. "I'll take a look at it."
Perhaps it will serve as a reminder to her to call on the Cal State Long
Beach journalism students for another story.