Giuliani loses bid to toss $10 million sexual assault lawsuit

A New York judge Tuesday denied former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's bid to dismiss a $10 million sexual assault lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiff made her case well enough to send the years-long case to discovery.

Giuliani's former employee Noelle Dunphy filed the lawsuit in 2023, which is seeking $10 million in restitution as part of a suit claiming "unlawful abuses of power, wide-ranging sexual assault and harassment, wage theft and other misconduct."

New York Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Moyne ruled that Dunphy sufficiently stated her allegations against the former mayor and gave him 20 days to respond.

“The court finds that the amended complaint states legally cognizable claims upon which relief can be granted," the judge wrote. "Factual disputes over the credibility of [Dunphy’s] narrative or the exact contours of the relationship are reserved for summary judgment or trial. The parties shall continue with discovery immediately.”

Dunphy formerly served as the director of business development for multiple firms Giuliani owned, where she was promised a $1 million annual salary that she claimed she never received. The suit alleges that Giuliani actively worked to hire her in 2019 and subsequently began abusing her shortly after the start of her employment.

She specifically claims that Giuliani was in a near-constant state of intoxication and rearranged her job priorities to facilitate her close presence to him at any given time. 

Giuliani has denied the allegations, stating that he and Dunphy had a brief romance and that she was never his employee, according to the New York Daily News.

He also claimed in his bid to dismiss the case that Dunphy failed to adequately prove she was subjected to gender-based animus in filing a claim under the Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law.

“The defendants are wrong,” Moyne wrote. “Because Ms. Dunphy explicitly alleges nonconsensual sexual intercourse and oral sex, the animus requirement is satisfied at the pleading stage. 

"Furthermore, the amended complaint details numerous misogynistic and degrading remarks made by Giuliani, providing independent support for gender-based animus," he added.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.