Benjy Sarlin October 31, 2011, 5:19 PM

Updated at 5:19 PM

Herman Cain says he had no idea the National Restaurant Association ever reached a financial settlement with two women who accused him of inappropriate behavior because he delegated the investigation to the company’s general counsel and top HR official. But that story is starting to show cracks.

According to Debra S. Katz, an attorney at Katz, Marshall & Banks, LLP who specializes in sexual harassment cases, the notion that Cain could insulate himself from any knowledge of the investigation and its results is hard to believe.

“That’s completely not credible,” Katz told TPM. “It defies credibility that as CEO and member of the board he would be unaware that a settlement was reached and what was paid. It’s reasonable that a general counsel would say you’re not to be involved in the investigation, or speak to the woman, or influence witnesses, but it is completely incredible that he knows nothing about the results and what occurred there.”

[Note: see update at bottom of story.]

She added that as the subject of an investigation, he would have been interviewed in detail about every aspect of the allegations and been deeply familiar with the accusations.

Cain has said that he can’t clear the air on the harassment charges because the NRA, which has kept quiet so far, has a policy about not discussing such cases. But Katz said that there were ways for Cain and the NRA to confirm basic elements of the story without compromising nondisclosure agreements or revealing the names of the accusers. For one thing, they could always renegotiate the deal with the women in question. She added that typically settlements include a mutual non-disparagement clause, but if such an agreement existed in this case, Cain was already skirting it by telling the press the harassment accusations were trumped-up charges.

“I think he’s ducking behind this,” Katz said. “I think if the National Restaurant Association supports him, they can figure out a way to be more transparent about these allegations.”

In another odd element to the story, the head of human resources at the NRA during Cain’s tenure, Mary Ose, denied to Politico that she ever investigated Cain or was even aware of the accusations:

“No, I do not,” said Mary Ose, the former human resources chief when asked if she was aware of allegations about Cain’s behavior from his time.

When pressed, Ose, now retired and living in Arkansas, said she never heard any hint of a problem with Cain and female association employees.

“No, none,” she said.

Cain had said that he delegated the investigation to the company’s HR officer, which means that presumably Ose would be first in line to know about the situation.

Update: Herman Cain is now acknowledging for the first time that he was, in fact, aware of the financial settlement. According to the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, Cain discussed the issue in an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren that will air Monday night:

“My general counsel said this started out where she and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement…I don’t remember a number…But then he said because there was no basis for this, we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement.” When van Susteren asked how much money was involved, Cain said. “Maybe three months’ salary. I don’t remember. It might have been two months. I do remember my general counsel saying we didn’t pay all of the money they demanded.

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2012, 2012 Presidential Primaries, Herman Cain