May 16 (UPI) — Rudy Giuliani is facing a $10 million sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former business associate who accuses the former New York City mayor of “unlawful abuses of power, wide-ranging sexual assault and harassment, wage theft and other misconduct.”
Noelle Dunphy, who directed business development for a number of Giuliani’s companies, filed the lawsuit Monday in New York’s Supreme Court.
“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 70-page lawsuit reads.
“He was constantly pressuring her, making sexual comments, sexual remarks, to her, about her, about himself,” Dunphy’s attorney Justin Kelton said. “When they were supposed to be working he would, as our client alleges, he would then grope her and try to initiate sexual contact.”
The suit claims Giuliani also refused to pay Dunphy a $1 million salary as he had promised.
According to the complaint, Giuliani offered Dunphy “pro bono legal representation” related to a dispute with an abusive ex-partner — but told Dunphy that her employment would be “kept ‘secret.'” The suit claims Giuliani told Dunphy he was deferring her pay due to his ongoing divorce.
“Giuliani began requiring Ms. Dunphy to work at his home and out of hotel rooms so that she would be at his beck and call,” the lawsuit reads. “He drank morning, noon and night, and was frequently intoxicated, and therefore his behavior was always unpredictable.”
The lawsuit also claims Giuliani “often demanded that Dunphy worked naked, or in short shorts” and that the former mayor took Viagra constantly and exposed himself.
“She alleges that on several occasions she objected, clearly, that he did not respect those objections,” Kelton said.
Besides the sexual demands, the suit alleges Giuliani went on intoxicated rants and made “sexist, racist and antisemitic remarks, which made the work environment unbearable.”
According to the lawsuit, Dunphy made tape recordings of some of her exchanges with Giuliani, which he “laughed off,” saying he could not be sued because he was then-President Donald Trump‘s private attorney.
The complaint also claims Giuliani gave Dunphy access to emails, containing classified correspondence with Trump, former attorneys general and secretaries of state.
On Monday, Giuliani’s attorney Ted Goodman denied the allegations in a statement to CBS News.
“Mayor Rudy Giuliani unequivocally denies the allegations raised by Ms. Dunphy and every news outlet covering this story must include the fact that an ex-partner accused her of being, ‘an escort that fleeces wealthy men,'” Goodman said.
“He also claimed she, ‘bragged about extorting $5 million’ from the son of a successful Wall Street investor, with a fake rape claim in 2011,” Goodman alleged.
“Giuliani’s lifetime of public service speaks for itself and he will pursue all available remedies and counterclaims.”