(Bloomberg) -- A former Avenue Capital Group employee accused by Marc Lasry in a recent court filing of trying to extort him for $50 million has hit back with a lawsuit of her own.
Gina Strum, who worked in business development at Avenue for about four years, sued the firm’s billionaire co-founder for discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in New York state court, alleges Lasry forcibly kissed and touched her. It also includes discrimination claims against Lasry’s sister and co-founder, Sonia Gardner.
“Ms. Strum’s desperate attempt to claim that Mr. Lasry acted inappropriately and sexually harassed her are completely not true,” said Todd Fogarty, a representative for Avenue and Lasry. “These categorically false and vindictive claims by Ms. Strum – and her repeated threats to smear their reputations and maliciously destroy them personally and their business if she was not paid $50 million – are the reasons why Mr. Lasry, Ms. Gardner and Avenue on Oct. 18 filed a lawsuit against her for defamation.”
Lasry said in his suit that Strum had threatened a lawsuit and to make it “really, really, ugly” for Avenue by spreading false information unless she was paid off. He said her alleged threats began more than a decade ago, and that he responded by giving her a severance package for an undisclosed sum and continuing to work with her in a consulting capacity in the ensuing years.
In her countersuit, Strum alleged Lasry stood by while colleagues spread false rumors about her, and that he participated in the intimidation and harassment.
She also said Lasry told her that she should have sex with him to advance her career and that when she refused, he allegedly retaliated by taking a pension fund client away from her, according to the suit. She also accused him of “habitually” sexualizing the workplace, groping her, and regularly kissing and hugging her without consent.
Her suit says that she sent a letter to Lasry in September detailing her claims in an effort to “explore an amicable resolution” and that instead of engaging with her Lasry “ran to court to file a frivolous and malicious lawsuit.”
The case is Gina Strum v Avenue Capital Group, New York State Supreme Court, New York County.
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