Rudy Giuliani denies sexual assault allegations made in $10 million lawsuit by former employee
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and attorney for former President Donald Trump, is being sued in a lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages by a former employee accusing him of "sexual assault and harassment, wage theft, and other misconduct."
The 70-page complaint was filed in a New York Court on Monday by Noelle Dunphy, who was hired by Giuliani in January 2019 to work on the business development side for his firm. The complaint features sensitive allegations of sexual assault.
"He made clear that satisfying his sexual demands —which came virtually anytime, anywhere— was an absolute requirement of her employment and of his legal representation," the complaint reads. It also says the he demanded "that she work naked, in a bikini, or in short shorts with an American flag on them that he bought for her."
In a statement, a spokesperson for Giuliani said he "unequivocally denies the allegations raised by Ms. Dunphy."
"Mayor Giuliani's lifetime of public service speaks for itself and he will pursue all available remedies and counterclaims," Giuliani's spokesperson, Ted Goodman, said.
An attorney for Dunphy, Justin Kelton, said in a statement to CBS News that "Mr. Giuliani is not the first powerful man accused of sexual abuse towards subordinates who attempts to smear his accuser in a discredited game of blame the victim."
"He will have to answer to materials and recorded statements that will be presented at trial," Kelton added.
According to the complaint, which includes photographs, apparent text messages between Dunphy and Giuliani and further details about her time as his employee, Dunphy alleges that Giuliani would often take performance-enhancing drugs, expose himself and tell her that he "could not do any work until 'you take care of this'" while pointing to his genitals.
"He was constantly pressuring her, making sexual comments, sexual remarks, to her, about her, about himself. When they were supposed to be working he would, as our client alleges, he would then grope her and try to initiate sexual contact," Kelton told CBS News New York.
"She alleges that on several occasions she objected, clearly, that he did not respect those objections," Kelton added.
Dunphy claims that Giuliani would often pressure her into oral sex, sometimes while on the phone with high-profile people — including, at one time, former President Trump. Giuliani allegedly told Dunphy that he "enjoyed engaging in this conduct while on the telephone because it made him 'feel like Bill Clinton,'" according to the complaint.
Giuliani also allegedly promised Dunphy a $1 million salary, which he then refused to pay. She says Giuliani was in the midst of a divorce when he hired her and told Dunphy that her pay "would have to be deferred and her employment kept 'secret' until the divorce proceedings finished," according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges that Giuliani was frequently under the influence of alcohol.
"During this time, the work environment was regularly affected by Giuliani's chronic alcoholism. Giuliani was rarely sober around Ms. Dunphy," reads the complaint.
"Since he regularly drank all day and night, it became part of Ms. Dunphy's responsibilities to fetch his alcohol and make sure that he was a "functioning alcoholic."
The complaint also says that while drunk, Giuliani "often made outrageous comments that created and added to the hostile work environment that Ms. Dunphy was forced to endure," and that while Dunphy found the comments "revolting," the lack of a formal Human Resources office and the "control that Giuliani had wielded over her as her boss and lawyer" made her feel as if little recourse was possible.
The complaint says that many of the comments were recorded, and include both racist, antisemitic, homophobic and fatphobic remarks.
The complaint alleges that in recorded statements to Dunphy, Giuliani called her many derogatory gendered slurs, said he could not "control [himself]" with her and allegedly said "I think of you as my daughter. Is that weird?" while engaging in sexual contact with Dunphy, according to the complaint.
