Topline
A former waitress has filed a lawsuit against the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, saying she was sexually harassed, bribed and threatened into having sex with her supervisor and then tricked by a Trump attorney into signing an illegal non-disclosure agreement.
A view of the Trump National Golf Club.
Key Facts
In the lawsuit, first obtained by Politico, Alice Bianco says she was 21 years old when club food and beverage manager Pavel Melichar repeatedly forced himself on her and ultimately forced her into a “quid pro quo” sexual relationship in 2021, implying he could fire her or make her life difficult if she didn’t comply.
After Bianco and an unnamed co-worker wrote a letter to Donald Trump’s personal staff about Melichar’s alleged sexual harassment of female employees, attorney Alina Habba allegedly approached Bianco and said she wanted to “help her” with the situation.
It was then that Habba “poisoned” Bianco’s relationship with her existing attorney, “groomed” her until she believed them to be friends and pressured her into signing an illegal non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a “paltry settlement,” the complaint alleges.
The suit accuses Habba of defrauding Bianco into silence “on behalf of Trump” and said the settlement has left Bianco “afraid to speak about her harassment for fear of draconian and illegal penalties.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Middlesex County Superior Court, does not seek any new monetary damages and instead asks Bianco be freed of the NDA, allowed to keep the initial settlement money (the amount of which was not disclosed) and have her attorneys fees paid, as well as that Habba be reported to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics.
Neither Trump, Melichar nor Habba are named as defendants in the case, which only targets Trump National Golf Club.
Habba and Melichar did not immediately respond to Forbes’ requests for comment Thursday, nor did Bianco’s lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, who also represented former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson in her $20 million sexual harassment against Roger Ailes, the former chairman of the network.
Key Background
Dozens of women have accused Trump and his associates of sexual misconduct to varying degrees, though the president has repeatedly denied all accusations against him. A now-infamous video released one month before he was elected president shows Trump telling TV host Billy Bush that famous people “can do anything” to women: “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the pussy,” he said in the film. Trump was found liable earlier this year for the 1996 rape of advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. Trump’s company and presidential campaign also have a history of using nondisclosure agreements. Hundreds of staffers on Trump’s 2016 campaign were released from non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements last month that were called overbroad and vague in court, and Trump has gotten his ex-wives, business associates and contestants on “The Apprentice” to sign agreements over the years, to varying degrees of success. Several have since been voided, including one signed by adult film star Stormy Daniels—who says she had an affair with Trump—after high-profile legal battles.
Tangent
Habba worked for several years in private practice in New Jersey before forming her own firm in 2020. She was hired by Trump the next year and filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit on his behalf against the New York Times, several reporters and his niece, Mary L. Trump. The suit was later dismissed. Habba has worked on several cases involving Trump, including his legal battle with Michael Cohen. Habba and Trump were sanctioned by a federal judge in Florida earlier this year and ordered to pay nearly $1 million for their “strategic abuse of the judicial process.” The pair were ordered to cover the legal costs of 31 defendants—including Hillary Clinton—in a lawsuit about behavior in the 2016 presidential election “that should never have been filed,” the judge wrote. In September, Habba settled a case against her that alleged she created a hostile work environment for her former legal assistant with racist and sexist behavior.
Big Number
$3.5 million. That’s how much Trump’s PACs have paid Habba’s law firm, ABC News reported.
Further Reading
Further Viewing
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/11/30/former-trump-golf-club-waitress-alleges-she-was-sexually-harassed-pressured-into-signing-nda/