Noelle Dunphy, 43, of New York City has filed a lawsuit alleging that her former employer, Rudy Giuliani, former president Trump's former lawyer, sexually assaulted her and sexually harassed her within a toxic work environment that she endured while employed at his company.
in the lawsuit, Dunphy, a writer and business development consultant [according to her website] states that she was retained for "business development work and other work" by Giuliani in January 2019. She describes Giuliani's increase in his "abuse of alcohol", noting that it was instigated by his divorce and the snowballing political and legal controversies he found himself in during the time, and that it often brought about a frequency of bigoted, misogynistic, racist, anti-semetic, and anti-LGBTQ remarks in what she described as "confused and hostile, alcohol-laced tirades." She says later in the suit that "on every day of the week, Giuliani would begin drinking shortly after awakening and would continue consuming alcohol persistently and in excess, affecting his behavior as her boss and lawyer.”
As if "the chronic and pervasive violations of applicable New York State and New York City laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace" wasn't enough, Mr. Giuliani often would accuse his employees of "disloyalty" on "a thin-to-nonexistent evidentiary basis."
Dunphy alleges that shortly after beginning in her position, Giuliani began "sexually harassing" her and eventually began demanding sexual favors. This continued until she was fired without substantial compensation and threatened, that she keep her association with Mr. Giuliani a secret, in 2021.
Noelle describes that period in the summons, saying:
"At these times, Giuliani threatened [Dunphy] with further retaliation if she did not stay silent, stating that his private investigators and political connections to President Trump enabled him to retaliate in other ways, express and implied."
While never saying explicitly whether or not she and Mr. Giuliani were romantically involved at any point in the lawsuit itself, Noelle did confirm the romantic element in a series of texts and emails with The Daily Beast.
“It began with Rudy as my boss and lawyer and later turned romantic,” she says in a message, later referring to Mr. Giuliani as a "manipulative abuser," a term she had used to describe him in the lawsuit.
Robert Costello, attorney for Mr. Giuliani, told The Daily Beast that Noelle "never worked for any Giuliani entity," and that his client "categorically denies all of the allegations in this frivolous lawsuit."
"These are libelous allegations drafted by an individual with no lawyer, because no lawyer would associate themselves with this nonsense. Unfortunately, when you are in the public eye, you become a target for these predators. Any cursory due diligence will reveal that this person is not truthful and any publication of these lies will be purely malicious on the part of your publication," Costello said.
Dunphy told The Daily Beast that, in regards to her employment, she had agree to deferred compensation, making her an "off-the-books, secret employee." She added that she views Giuliani's "categorical denial" as a red flag, stating, "I have hard evidence to be introduced at trial and look forward to holding him accountable in court. Rudy Giuliani is lashing out because he has nothing else to offer and is afraid that the evidence I have will come before a jury."
At one point in their correspondence, she told The Daily Beast, “Seeking justice against a powerful man is terrifying. Even many lawyers are intimidated by Rudy, and by the idea of taking him on," but this isn't Dunphy's first rodeo.
In 2015, she filed a federal lawsuit against a real estate investor under the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleging repeated abuse. According to court records, they settled the suit with Dunphy gaining $10,000.
The summons seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages of $3.1 million. According to Dunphy, it is only the first step in the civil actions to be taken against Giuliani, several of his businesses, and 10 John and Jane Does.
The compensatory damages seem to be implied to be, at least partially, a response to a point in the summons where Dunphy details a time that she "attempted to find some value in an otherwise-difficult situation by requesting Giuliani’s assistance in finding gainful employment with other organizations with which [Giuliani’s entities] maintained ongoing relationships. Despite [Dunphy's] qualifications and satisfactory work, Giuliani refused."
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