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<ul class="summary-list"><li>A string of federal lawsuits out of Manhattan accuse <keyword id="20236265" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="combs" source="keywords">Combs</keyword> of sexual attacks dating back to 1995.</li><li>One alleges Combs orally raped a worker for rival brand <keyword id="23786412" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ecko" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Ecko" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Ecko">Ecko</keyword> at the <keyword id="20749648" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Macys" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Macy's" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Macy's">Macy's</keyword> flagship store in 2008.</li></ul>Macy's covered up a violent 2008 sexual attack by Sean "Diddy" Combs at its flagship <keyword id="23786411" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Herald-Square" source="keywords">Herald Square</keyword>, Manhattan store to protect a "multi-million-dollar" deal with Combs' clothing brand, <keyword id="23786413" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sean-John" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Sean John" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Sean John">Sean John</keyword>, a new lawsuit alleges. The worldwide department store chain was named as a defendant in one of at least <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sean-combs-diddy-new-allegations-lawsuits-2024-10">six federal lawsuits</a>, all alleging sexual assaults, filed against the hip-hop entrepreneur in Manhattan Monday. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25204963-combs-lawsuit-macys-attack-complaint-20241014">The 19-page lawsuit</a> is one of two filed Monday that names an outside company as a defendant beyond <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sean-combs-diddy-business-income-dried-up-ciroc-music-deleon-2024-10">the companies belonging to Combs</a>. It was filed on behalf of a "John Doe" who now lives in Ohio. The plaintiff alleges that he was orally raped by Combs while working in the stockroom of the flagship store. The plaintiff said he worked for Ecko, a rival clothing company to Combs' Sean John brand that was also carried by Macy's. On the day of the attack, Combs entered into the stockroom with three armed bodyguards, the lawsuit says. One or more of the guards struck him — he may have been pistol-whipped, he alleges — causing him to fall to his hands and knees, the lawsuit said. The plaintiff says in the lawsuit that one or more of the bodyguards threatened to kill him. The plaintiff said Combs demanded he perform oral sex on him, calling him by the name of the company he worked for, "Ecko." Combs proceeded to orally rape the plaintiff in what was described as a two-minute attack, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that after the assault, Combs grabbed armfuls of Sean John merchandise from the stockroom, went out onto the retail floor, and "began passing out merchandise to an adoring crowd, as if nothing had happened." The lawsuit accuses Macy's of quickly covering up the incident. <div type="image" title="Sean Combs, Cassie Ventura, and Terry Lundgren stand in front of a Macy's backdrop." height="2191" width="3000" msid="114232336" hostid="261"></div>The plaintiff reported it the same day to company security, but there was no follow-up, and he was soon barred from the store, the lawsuit alleges. "Approximately three weeks later, <keyword id="23786414" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Terry-Lundgren" source="keywords">Terry Lundgren</keyword>, CEO of Macy's, pressured Ecko executives to fire plaintiff because Macy's had just signed a multi-million-dollar deal with Sean John Clothing," the suit says. The plaintiff was eventually fired and told by Ecko that he could no longer live in his company-paid apartment in the city, the lawsuit says. Ecko was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The company did not immediately return requests for comment from Business Insider after normal business hours on Monday. The plaintiff "believes that the report of the assault was destroyed or otherwise purged from Macy's records, and no action was ever taken as a result of the report." He still "fears for his life," the lawsuit says. Macy's and Lundgren did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the allegations. Attorneys for Combs released a statement Monday, again denying that the artist ever committed sexual assault. They called the lawsuits filed Monday an attempt to "garner publicity." "Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process," the lawyers said. "In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone—adult or minor, man or woman." The lawsuits against Combs were filed in Manhattan by the Texas-based <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.txattorneys.com/">Buzbee Law Firm</a>, co-counsel <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://avalaw.com/">AVA Law Group</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.curislaw.com/">Curis Law.</a> The Sean John brand, founded in 1998, appears now to be defunct. Its Instagram page is blank, and its website is broken. At one point, it had expanded to include clothing, furniture, fragrance, and footwear, and by 2010, the brand reported retail sales of over $525 million. Starting in 2011, the company's lucrative sportswear line — which it said made up about half of its sales — was exclusively sold at Macy's. Five of the retailer's locations included Sean John shops, where the company's goods were marketed and sold in prime locations, and Combs appeared in commercials for the store. For years, it was among the department chain's top-selling men's brands, <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://wwd.com/menswear-news/mens-retail-business/sean-combs-puffy-global-brands-sean-john-10714373/">WWD reported</a>. "I have always admired Sean's sense of fashion, as well as his business acumen. He has a keen insight into the needs of a style-conscious, contemporary man," Lundgren <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://www.macysinc.com/newsroom/news/news-details/2010/Sean-John-Sportswear-to-be-Sold-Exclusively-at-Macys-05-05-2010/default.aspx">said</a> of Combs when the exclusivity deal was announced in 2010 — two years after the alleged <a target="_blank" href="http://assault.In">assault.</a> "He was the first person to believe in me," the hip-hop star said of Lundgren, returning the compliment in a 2012 <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/SB50001424052748704723404578199501748850748">Barron's article</a>. "He was like a godfather," Combs said. In 2016, Combs sold a majority stake in the brand for $70 million, but under new management, the brand floundered and eventually filed for bankruptcy. In 2021, Combs purchased the business back for $7.55 million. Sean John continued to be sold at Macy's until last fall, though a spokesperson did not comment on whether the line was pulled due to the mounting accusations against Combs. Combs remains in jail awaiting a sex-trafficking trial scheduled for May 5. Correction: October 21, 2024 — Due to an error during editing, an earlier version of this story misstated Sean Jean's revenue. The brand, as a whole, reported over $525 million in retail sales in 2010, not specifically at Macy's.

Macy's accused in lawsuit of covering up 2008 sexual attack by Sean 'Diddy' Combs in Herald Square flagship store

The list of famous people who appear in the sexual assault lawsuits against Sean 'Diddy' Combs

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Late billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women.</li><li>Lawyers claimed he used wealth and power to manipulate victims.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-are-al-fayed-family-the-crown-mohamed-dodi-princess-diana-2022-11">Mohamed Al-Fayed, </a>an Egyptian-born billionaire, owned Harrods, a luxury London department store, for 26 years. His son was Princess Diana's partner, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/princess-diana-and-dodi-fayed-relationship-timeline-2023-11">Dodi Fayed</a>, who died alongside her in a Paris car crash in 1997.After decades of fame and controversy, Al-Fayed died last August aged 94.Now, after years of mounting evidence and speculation, multiple women have come forward to say Al-Fayed sexually assaulted them.Lawyers representing 37 people who said they were sexually abused by Al-Fayed — including former Harrods employees — spoke at a news conference reported by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://news.sky.com/story/mohamed-al-fayed-was-a-monster-enabled-by-harrods-according-to-lawyers-representing-his-alleged-victims-13218203">Sky News</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c1m9r3pl31yt">BBC News.</a>The lawyers said Al-Fayed used "his wealth and power to manipulate and control victims," many of whom were aged between 19 and 24 when they started working for Al-Fayed.Some were as young as 15 and 16, they added.Lawyer Gloria Allred said the allegations against Al-Fayed included serial rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and sexual abuse of minors.She said there was "something rotten at the core of Harrods," adding that there was an abusive environment "underneath the glitz and glamour."Friday's news conference followed an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6x635wpjxo">investigation by the BBC</a> in which 20 former employees of Al-Fayed said he sexually assaulted or raped them."I made it obvious that I didn't want that to happen. I did not give consent. I just wanted it to be over," one unnamed woman, who said Al-Fayed raped her at his apartment in London's upmarket Park Lane, told the broadcaster.Another unnamed woman, who said she was a teenager when the billionaire raped her, told the BBC he was "a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever."She added that employees were viewed as his "playthings" and that he "actively cultivated fear."The BBC's reporting uncovered how Harrods failed to intervene and protect the women who said they had been abused.In an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://response.harrods.com/">online statement,</a> the store, which Al-Fayed sold in 2010, said, "We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.""We also acknowledge that during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise. We are doing everything we can to fix this," the statement added.The online statement also included a form where current or former employees who had been abused by Al-Fayed could get in touch.Al-Fayed faced some accusations of sexual misconduct while he was still alive.In 2008, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/22/alfayed.allegations/index.html?iref=nextin">CNN</a> reported that he denied sexually assaulting a minor when questioned by police.In a 2018 <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.channel4.com/news/new-allegations-of-sexual-assault-against-mohamed-al-fayed-by-three-women-including-15-year-old-employee">Channel 4 News investigation</a>, multiple women said they were sexually harassed and assaulted by Al-Fayed.Al-Fayed owned Harrods for 26 years and later owned Fulham Football Club and the Paris Ritz. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/09/19/harrods-utterly-appalled-by-rape-allegations-against-late-billionaire-mohamed-al-fayed/">According to Forbes</a>, his net worth was around $2 billion when <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mohamed-al-fayed-buried-26-years-after-princess-diana-death-2023-9">he died</a>. He was reportedly buried alongside his son. Princess Diana and her sons Prince William and Prince Harry, famously vacationed on Fayed's yacht in St. Tropez in 1997 — events that were dramatized in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-are-al-fayed-family-the-crown-mohamed-dodi-princess-diana-2022-11">Netflix's "The Crown."</a>

Mohamed Al-Fayed, the late billionaire with links to the royal family, has been accused of sexually abusing multiple women

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Donald Trump showed up for an appeal in the case that found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll.</li><li>Friday's arguments focused on whether it was OK for the jury to hear about groping on a plane.</li></ul>Donald Trump actually showed up this time.The 2024 Republican presidential candidate appeared in a Manhattan federal appeals court Friday to watch the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-mimics-harvey-weinstein-arguments-e-jean-carroll-appeal-2024-9">oral arguments in the appeal of a jury verdict</a> finding him liable for sexual abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.Much of the arguments — on the 17th floor of a Manhattan federal courthouse — focused on whether sexual assault testimony from one witness in the trial should have been tossed because the incident she alleges took place on an airplane.John Sauer, Trump's lawyer in the Friday arguments, said the jury should have never heard evidence from Jessica Leeds, who <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jessica-leeds-testifies-e-jean-carroll-trial-trump-sexual-assault-2023-5">testified that Trump groped her on a plane in the 1970s</a>.When Trump ran into Leeds a couple of years later, he recalled her as "that cunt from the airplane," Leeds testified.Leeds's allegations weren't part of Carroll's accusations, but the trial judge allowed her testimony because they demonstrated what Carroll's lawyers argued was a pattern of behavior by Trump.But Sauer said the testimony should have been "inadmissible" because the alleged events were under "territorial or maritime jurisdiction" and different rules of evidence applied.The three judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel hearing the case seemed largely skeptical of the arguments.US Circuit Judge Denny Chin appeared doubtful it would make sense to "order a new trial" based on the arguments."It's very hard to overturn a jury verdict for evidentiary grounds," he said.Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan said there was no "special aircraft jurisdiction" that would have led to the exclusion of Leeds's testimony."It was a crime to grope someone on a plane," she said. "It is a crime to grope someone on a plane."<h2 id="075d33df-4a60-454b-8738-97b78ef8bf89">Trump didn't show up to the trial</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-not-testifying-may-have-hurt-him-e-jean-carroll-2023-5">Trump skipped the trial for the case</a>, which took place in the spring of 2023. The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-liable-rape-e-jean-carroll-jury-verdict-2023-5">jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming</a> Carroll and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages.After suffering the court loss, Trump did attend nearly all of a second trial, in January of this year, which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-trump-trial-defamation-rape-sexual-abuse-2024-1">focused on additional defamation damages</a>.His lead attorney in the January trial, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-judge-bench-slaps-trump-attorney-alina-habba-2024-1">Alina Habba, frequently sparred with the case's judge</a>. Trump himself stood up and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-walks-out-courtroom-e-jean-carroll-defamation-trial-2024-1">walked out of the courtroom</a> in the middle of closing arguments from Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan.The jury in the second trial <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-disrespect-e-jean-carroll-trial-turned-jury-against-him-2024-1">ordered the former president to pay Carroll another $83 million in damages</a> for repeatedly calling her a liar and disparaging her appearance while denying the sexual assault.Carroll attended every day of both trials, as well as Friday's arguments. Kaplan declined to comment after the hearing.The appeal's oral arguments were held in a courthouse across the street from where the two Carroll v. Trump trials took place.Trump brought much of his expansive legal team with him Friday. In addition to Sauer, who made the oral arguments, he had attorneys Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, and Habba in tow. Two advisors, Boris Epshteyn and Joshua Katz, hung back at the same large table in the courtroom well.<div type="image" title="donald trump at a press conference" height="1666" width="2500" msid="113134697" hostid="261" sizebytes="141890"></div>Carroll brought her sexual abuse lawsuit against Trump using the Adult Survivor's Act, a New York law passed in the wake of the #MeToo movement that opened a window allowing for civil sexual misconduct claims that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.Carroll alleged that, in the mid-1990s, Trump cornered her in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman's dressing room in Manhattan, a short walk from Trump Tower. In <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-witness-stand-humor-trump-rape-trial-2023-5">harrowing testimony</a> for both trials, she described how his "curved finger" penetrated her without her consent. Two of Carroll's friends testified she told her about the incident shortly after it took place.Trump's lawyers have argued the verdict in the first trial should be tossed. In an appeal brief, lawyers Blanche and Bove — who also represent Trump in a slew of other cases — borrowed arguments from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harvey-weinstein-conviction-for-sex-crimes-overturned-2024-4">Harvey Weinstein's successful appeal</a> in his New York criminal case, who also argued accusers not part of the case shouldn't have been allowed to testify.Sauer argued Trump's case was "a textbook example" of a case wrongly propped up by propensity evidence rather than Trump's actual conduct."It's a quintessential he-said-she-said case," he said.The judges didn't appear to be convinced. US Circuit Court Judge Susan Carney mused about whether the verdict could stand when considering the "outcry witnesses" to who Carroll disclosed her story.Legal experts — including Weinstein's own lawyers — previously told BI the argument has a slim chance of success. Federal courtroom rules are more lenient when it comes to the testimony of "propensity witnesses" who help establish a pattern of behavior, particularly when it comes to civil cases."In these civil cases, you can certainly show a pattern, and that's basically what's happening, especially when you have a perpetrator with multiple alleged victims," Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor who helped write the Adult Survivors Act, told BI before Friday's arguments.On Friday, Kaplan emphasized that the ordinary rules were followed during the trial"Despite the prominence of this case, and the personalities involved, this is really about a routine application of federal rules of evidence," she said.<div type="image" title="E jean Carroll and her lawyer roberta kaplan leaving court" height="2992" width="4487" msid="113134700" hostid="261" sizebytes="915976"></div>She also jabbed at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carroll-lawyer-threatens-sanctions-trump-alina-habba-judge-mentor-2024-1">Habba's earlier claims</a> that she may have some kind of conflict of interest with the trial judge, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan."Just for the record, we are not related and he is not my mentor," she said.Trump is racing to clear away <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-key-cases-civil-criminal-investigations-lawsuits-updates-2022-7">many of his legal problems</a> ahead of the November presidential election, where is is facing off against Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.Earlier this year, Sauer won a resounding victory before the US Supreme Court in one of Trump's criminal cases. The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-trump-immunity-january-6-election-ruling-decision-2024-5">court recognized far-reaching presidential immunity</a> that delivered a siginificant setback to the Washington, DC-based criminal case aginst Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.Trump didn't show up to those oral arguments, either, in part because he was in another Manhattan courtroom during a trial for a different criminal case, where <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-hush-money-trial-verdict-2024-5">a jury found him guilty</a> of falsifying business documents as part of a different election interference scheme in 2016.Blanche and Bove, who represent part of his team in the Manhattan criminal case, have cited the US Supreme Court ruling to fight the verdict in that case as well. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, is expected to decide Friday whether he will once again delay Trump's sentencing, which is scheduled for September 18.Presidential immunity played a role in earlier court fights in the Carroll case. A Second Circuit panel previously ruled that Trump waived any presidential immunity protections and could not argue that they applied as he disparaged Carroll from the White House.In an interview with BI after the verdict in her first trial last year, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-advice-sue-abusers-following-trump-trial-win-2023-5">Carroll said she heard from hundreds of readers</a> that her court verdicts gave them home that they could hold their own abusers accountable."They think, 'Well, if the former President of the United States can be held liable for sexual abuse, well then maybe my stepfather, maybe my old boss, maybe my ex-boyfriend, maybe that man who lived down the street — maybe I can hold them accountable for ruining my life,'" Carroll told BI.

Trump's lawyers say an accuser's sexual assault testimony should have been tossed because the incident was aboard an airplane

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Trump accuser Jessica Leeds told reporters at Trump Tower Monday that "he's a sexual predator."</li><li>Her remarks came in response to Trump saying that he'd never have "chosen" her to assault.</li></ul>At a press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Friday, former President Donald Trump wanted the world to know he would never have sexually assaulted <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jessica-leeds-testifies-e-jean-carroll-trial-trump-sexual-assault-2023-5">Jessica Leeds</a>."She would not have been the chosen one," he told reporters, implying her appearance wasn't up to his standards.On Monday, Leeds held a press conference of her own to confront him on that insult. With Trump Tower as her backdrop, she called the GOP presidential candidate "a sexual predator" and said she is deciding whether to sue him."He assaulted me 50 years ago and he continues to attack me today," she told a group of reporters gathered on Fifth Avenue. She called Trump's "chosen one" comments "really bizarre.""I must admit I did laugh," she said of hearing of the remark. "It's a little spooky and a little difficult to process. He does seem to be kind of obsessed. But here I am."Leeds accuses Trump of groping her while he sat next to her in the first-class cabin on a flight in 1979.She <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html">first publicly aired her accusation in 2016, </a>during the presidential campaign, telling The New York Times that Trump groped her as they sat side by side in the first-class cabin of a New York-bound flight.Leeds told her story in greatest detail in the spring of 2023, on the witness stand in federal court in Manhattan, as part of the sexual abuse and defamation case brought by the writer <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-mimics-harvey-weinstein-arguments-e-jean-carroll-appeal-2024-9">E. Jean Carroll</a>."He was grabbing my breasts," she testified at Carroll's trial. "It's like he had 40 zillion hands, and it was a tussling match between the two of us."Leeds, then a businesswoman, saw Trump again about two years later at a charity fundraiser, she testified."He said, 'I remember you. You're that cunt from the airplane,'" Leeds told the Carroll jury. "Well, it was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over my head."On Friday, Trump's lawyers claimed that Leeds's testimony should never have been allowed because of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-appeal-e-jean-carroll-sexual-abuse-case-plane-law-2024-9">particular jurisdictional laws around airplanes</a>. (The panel of three judges was skeptical.)Soon after the meeting, Trump summoned reporters to Trump Tower, where he disparaged Leeds, Carroll, and a third accuser and trial witness, Natasha Stoynoff, in a press conference after oral arguments in the appeal of Carroll's case.<div type="image" title="Jessica Leeds speaking outside Trump Tower" height="3492" width="5238" msid="113205909" hostid="261" sizebytes="860284"></div>Leeds on Monday gave a brief but no less emphatic version of her story to reporters, saying she was doing so, "because I believe it's important to remind voters.""All of a sudden, this man started grabbing me and trying to kiss me," she recounted of the plane ride. "He had 47 arms like an octopus.""When he decided to put his hand up my skirt, that gave me enough energy to move away from him," she added.At the press conference Monday, Leeds said she first went public with her claims after Trump denied sexually assaulting women during a presidential debate, wanting to set the record straight. She urged people not to vote for Trump in the 2024 election."We just cannot allow this person back into the White House," she said Monday.Carroll's 2023 defamation and sexual abuse jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. A second jury, in January of this year, ordered Trump to pay an additional $83 million to Carroll for additional defamation claims.The sexual abuse lawsuit against Trump included only claims from Carroll. But testimony from Leeds and Stoynoff — as well as the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape where Trump brags about grabbing women by the genitals — were permitted as evidence to demonstrate a pattern of behavior from Trump.Carroll's lawsuit alleged that, in the mid-1990s, Trump cornered her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman — a luxury department store a short walk from Trump Tower — and sexually assaulted her.She brought her sexual abuse lawsuit under the Adult Survivor's Act, a New York law that briefly opened a window for civil claims that the statute of limitations would otherwise bar.Carroll also brought defamation claims against Trump after he called her a liar by denying her accusations and insulted her appearance, calling her "not my type."The incident on the airplane that Leeds describes did not take place in New York and happened decades ago, making it challenging for her to have brought a sexual abuse lawsuit.But Trump denying her account on Friday may have opened a fresh window for a defamation suit."I'm considering a number of options because of his latest remarks," she told reporters Monday. "But no decision has been made."

Trump airplane-assault accuser Jessica Leeds calls him a 'sexual predator' and says she's deciding whether to sue

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Trump's lawyers will fight his 2023 sexual abuse and defamation verdict in Manhattan on Friday.</li><li>They say jurors wrongly heard other accusers, an appeal strategy that worked for Harvey Weinstein.</li></ul>Donald Trump is dispatching a lawyer to yet another courtroom Friday, when he'll try to overturn the Manhattan civil case that concluded the former president is a rapist.The oral arguments will have a distinct, Harvey Weinstein-esque ring to them, judging from the court filings.As the presidential election nears, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-legal-fees-pac-donor-money-personal-cases-2024-2">Trump's legal team</a> has been rushing to erase the Republican candidate's rap sheet and tidy up his lawsuit losses.On Friday, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-trump-immunity-case-january-6-2024-4">lawyer D. John Sauer</a> is scheduled to be in a federal appellate courtroom in Manhattan, where he'll fight the 2023 jury verdict that found the former president <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-liable-rape-e-jean-carroll-jury-verdict-2023-5">liable for defaming and sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll</a>. The judge who oversaw the trial later concluded that "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-rape-e-jean-carroll-sexual-abuse-jury-judge-2023-7">Trump 'raped' her</a> as many people commonly understand the word 'rape.'"Before a three-judge panel for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sauer is set to argue that the jury in Carroll's trial should never have heard evidence of other alleged sexual assaults.That evidence included the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-rape-trial-access-hollywood-grabs-trump-back-2023-5">"Access Hollywood" "grab 'em" tape</a>, and testimony by two women who told the jury Trump sexually attacked them, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jessica-leeds-testifies-e-jean-carroll-trial-trump-sexual-assault-2023-5">one on a plane</a> in the mid-70s and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-calls-e-jean-carroll-accusation-a-disgusting-story-2023-5">one at Mar-a-Lago</a> in 2005.It's a strategy that worked on appeal for Weinstein.In April, New York state's top court <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harvey-weinstein-conviction-for-sex-crimes-overturned-2024-4">overturned Weinstein's 2020 Manhattan sex crimes conviction</a> in a 4-3 decision that found the trial judge improperly allowed testimony by three accusers who were not part of the indictment. (Weinstein remains jailed in New York pending a retrial; he is separately serving <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harvey-weinstein-sentenced-16-years-prison-term-la-rape-conviction-2023-2">a 16-year sentence</a> from a rape conviction in Los Angeles, which he is also appealing.)But the lawyers who won Weinstein's appeal told Business Insider that what worked for their client probably won't work for Trump.That's because Weinstein's jury sat in a New York state criminal courtroom, where long-standing rules of evidence strictly limit so-called prior bad act evidence, the disgraced Hollywood mogul's lawyers noted.Federal court is a very different place, they said — where Trump will likely find the rules of evidence insurmountably stacked against him."It's not apples and apples," explained Barry Kamins, a Weinstein appellate attorney and former Brooklyn-based state Supreme Court justice.Federal trial rules allow evidence of other sexual assaults to be heard at civil sexual assault trials, and have since the mid-'90s, said Kamins, now at <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://aidalalaw.com/new-york-attorneys-barry-kamins/">Aidala, Bertuna &amp; Kamins.</a>"It's funny, but Trump would have been much better off in state court than in federal court, which may be why they brought the case there," Kamins said of Carroll's lawyers.The architect of the law Carroll used to bring a lawsuit against Trump agreed.Marci Hamilton, who runs the sexual abuse victim advocacy group Child USA and helped write the New York law, said civil cases allow presenting witnesses to "show a pattern.""That's basically what's happening — especially when you have a perpetrator with multiple alleged victims," she said. "That pattern makes a big difference in explaining to the jury exactly who this person was that was doing this and how they operated."<h2 id="a6030bb1-d60e-4cec-b214-cadb0df89332">Trump's lawyers are making the Weinstein argument</h2>The appeal is over the first of Carroll's two trials against Trump, in a case she brought under <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-adult-survivors-act-sexual-assault-trump-jean-carroll-2022-11">New York's Adult Survivors Act</a>.The law — passed in the wake of reports about Weinstein's sexual predation and the #MeToo movement — opened a one-year window where accusers could bring sexual misconduct lawsuits that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.Carroll accused Trump of sexually abusing her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodmans department store dressing room. The trial included <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-witness-stand-humor-trump-rape-trial-2023-5">searing testimony from Carroll herself</a>, as well as from two friends who testified that she contemporaneously told them Trump sexually assaulted her.US District Judge Lewis Kaplan also permitted testimony from Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, whose claims were not part of the lawsuit.Leeds described being forcibly groped on a plane twenty years prior to when Trump was found to have sexually assaulted Carroll. Stoynoff, a journalist, described a similar attack during an interview at Mar-a-Lago. That attack happened in 2005, she testified, twenty years after the Carroll attack and around the time Trump bragged about grabbing women by the genitals on the "Access Hollywood" tape.<div type="image" title="E. Jean Carroll in sunglasses" height="2599" width="3466" msid="113101233" hostid="261" sizebytes="354408"></div>Similar testimony doomed the Weinstein case.New York state's top court ruled the prosecution's prior-bad-act witnesses — the trio who testified Weinstein sexually assaulted them but whose claims weren't part of the criminal indictment — should never have taken the stand.In Trump's appeal brief, his lawyers argue testimony from Leeds and Stoynoff and the "Access Hollywood" tape should have never been allowed in the trial, and they cite a federal rule that is similar to the state-level one that foiled the Weinstein prosecution.The jury particularly should have never heard highly prejudicial testimony from Leeds recalling that Trump told her, "You're that cunt from the airplane," and Stoynoff saying Trump insisted "we're going to have an affair," Blanche and Bove argue.Diane Kiesel, a New York Law School professor and former state trial judge, told Business Insider she believed the evidence met the criteria for being included in the trial. The "Access Hollywood" tape and testimony from Leeds and Stoynoff helped demonstrate Trump's "motive, intent, and opportunity" in his encounter with Carroll, as allowed under federal evidence rules, she said."The fact that you've got E. Jean Carroll saying, 'He did this to me in Bergdorf's.' And he says, 'You can do it at any time to women, they let you do it,'" she said. "And then two other women climb out of the woodwork from 50 years ago and said he did the exact same thing — to me, I think it goes straight to motive, intent."Kaplan, the judge, wrote in his ruling that the evidence was allowed in the trial under different federal rules of procedure as well. Those include rules that allow for testimony about "similar acts" in sexual assault cases."As their testimony shows, Trump engaged in a pattern of abruptly lunging at a woman in a semi-public place, pressing his body against her, kissing her, and sexually touching her without consent, and later categorically denying the allegations and declaring that the accuser was too unattractive for him to have assaulted her," Carroll's lawyers wrote in a brief.<h2 id="9d2a4051-f3b3-4d91-a8e8-951d44875e33">Civil cases like Carroll's have different standards</h2>Friday's courtroom battle will feature Carroll's lawyer <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carroll-lawyer-threatens-sanctions-trump-alina-habba-judge-mentor-2024-1">Roberta Kaplan</a>, who oversaw the two verdicts in favor of Carroll. In the May 2023 verdict, the jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. In <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-trump-trial-defamation-rape-sexual-abuse-2024-1">the second trial, earlier this year</a>, a separate jury said <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-trial-verdict-e-jean-carroll-defamation-damages-2024-1">Trump owed Carroll an additional $83 million</a> in defamation damages.Kaplan (who is not related to the trial judge) will face off against Sauer, who recently won a resounding victory for Trump before the US Supreme Court, which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-trump-immunity-january-6-election-ruling-decision-2024-5">recognized sweeping presidential immunity</a> in the criminal election interference case against him.<div type="image" title="donald trump e jean carroll walking out court" height="2268" width="3024" msid="113101230" hostid="261" sizebytes="1216306"></div>Trump's best chance in Friday's appeal may be to continue to argue that the two other accusers who testified, Leeds and Stroynoff, described assaults that were far too distant in time from Carroll's to have been relevant, said Weinstein attorney Arthur Aidala.While federal rules of evidence for civil sexual assault trials are far more expansive, a judge still can't go too far, he said."It has to be reasonable, and the appellate court can take into consideration the distance in time between the accounts of the plaintiff and these 'propensity' witnesses," he said.Crucially, the jury in Carroll's case didn't need to reach their conclusion that Trump sexually abused Carroll "beyond a reasonable doubt" — the standard in criminal trials.Instead, they needed to find it was "more probable than not" that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll, a standard far more common in civil cases.Even if the appeals court finds that some of the trial testimony shouldn't have reached the jury's ear, the standard gives some room to allow the verdict to be upheld anyway, according to Hamilton, the architect of the Adult Survivors Act."It's not unusual that in a civil case, you'll have the defendants try arguments from the criminal law to try to strengthen their arguments," she said. "But in the end, it's just apples to oranges. They're not the same thing."

Trump will mimic Harvey Weinstein's successful appeal to fight his own sexual assault verdict Friday. It won't be as easy.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The FBI is looking into sexual assault accusations against brothers Tal, Alon, and Oren Alexander.</li><li>FBI agents are looking into accusations that span two decades, The Wall Street Journal reported.</li></ul>Famous <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-housing-markets-in-the-us-2016-9">luxury real estate</a> brothers well-known in New York and Miami are facing an FBI probe following multiple accusations of sexual assault, The Wall Street Journal reported.Women who say they've been assaulted by real estate brothers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tal-alexander-stepping-down-official-partners-real-estate-brokerage-2024-6">Tal and Oren Alexander</a>, along with their brother Alon, have spoken to FBI agents in the past few weeks, the Journal reported, citing a document and people familiar with the matter. The Journal reported that the agents are investigating accusations from the Alexanders' high school years and the two decades since.Attorneys for the brothers have denied the multiple accusations of sexual assault.In a statement to the Journal, a lawyer for Oren and Alon said that they were "unaware of any basis for an FBI inquiry into our clients' conduct. A lawyer for Tal told Business Insider that they "expect that anyone who investigates these matters will determine what we have— that Tal has done nothing wrong."Attorneys for Oren and Alon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI. The FBI declined to confirm or deny the probe's existence to Business Insider.All three <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tal-alexander-accused-rape-woman-with-alon-in-2012-2024-6">Alexander brothers</a> have been accused of sexual assault over the past few months in civil lawsuits.A June lawsuit filed by a woman named Angelica Parker claims that Tal and Alon raped her at a Manhattan apartment in 2012 while Oren watched. In March, two women filed civil lawsuits accusing Alon and Oren of rape.The lawsuits were filed under New York's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-adult-survivors-act-sexual-assault-trump-jean-carroll-2022-11">Adult Survivor's Act</a>, which allows people to sue for sexual assault after the statute of limitations has passed.Evan Torgan, who represents the two women in the March lawsuit, told the Journal that two dozen other women approached him with accusations of assault after they filed the suit.Torgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI. An attorney for Parker declined to comment.Five more women also came forward and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/luxury-real-estate-world-rocked-by-rape-allegations-against-star-broker-db3feb17">told the Journal</a> that they were sexually assaulted by Oren Alexander.All three brothers have denied all claims made against them.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sales-alexander-team-real-estate-agents-douglas-eliman-new-york-2021-6">Oren and Tal</a> are real estate agents connected to some of the country's most expensive sales — including a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-240-million-condo-sale-that-made-tal-oren-alexander-2023-6">$240 million New York apartment</a> sold to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ken-griffin-miami-citadel-office-report-2024-6">Ken Griffin</a> that holds the record for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-homes-sold-in-us-over-past-decade-2019-11">most expensive home</a> ever sold in the US. The brothers also cofounded the luxury real-estate brokerage Official.Alon is an executive at his family's private security firm, Kent Security.

Multimillionaire real estate brothers facing sexual assault accusations are now the focus of an FBI probe

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Armie Hammer said on Instagram that he had to sell his pickup truck.</li><li>He said he couldn't afford gas after moving back to LA.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/where-is-armie-hammer-now-2024-4">Armie Hammer</a> said he had to sell his pickup truck because he couldn't afford gas, three years after his reputation was tarnished by allegations of sexual assault and cannibalism.Hammer was a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/armie-hammer-movie-career-life-scandal-timeline">rising star</a> in the 2010s after starring in popular movies including "Call Me By Your Name." But his reputation tanked in early 2021 when multiple women accused him of abuse and shared explicit messages they said were from the actor, which detailed acts of cannibalism. The messages have not been verified by Business Insider. Hammer called the claims "bullshit" in a statement to Variety in January 2021. He later said he was emotionally abusive to his accusers in an interview with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://airmail.news/issues/2023-2-4/armie-hammer-breaks-his-silence">Air Mail</a> in 2023.The LAPD launched a two-year investigation into <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/armie-hammer-cannibal-dms-controversy-explained">Hammer</a> in March 2021, when one of the accusers, Efrosina Angelova, alleged in a press conference that the actor raped her in 2017. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/armie-hammer-rape-charge-la-district-attorney-drop-case-2023-6">Hammer was never charged</a> and denied the allegation.Since the controversy, Hammer has mostly been living in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/armie-hammer-once-thought-swimming-out-to-sea-kill-himself-2024-6">the Cayman Islands</a>, but in a new Instagram post shared on Tuesday, Hammer said he returned to LA a couple of weeks ago and moved into a new apartment.With the new move, Hammer said he had to give up his pickup truck, which he bought as a Christmas gift for himself in 2017, because gas in LA is so expensive. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gas-prices-states-lowest-highest-2024-7#california-has-the-highest-average-gas-prices-in-the-us-at-4-794-per-gallon-10">California</a> has the highest gas prices in the US."Since being back in L.A., I have put about four or five hundred dollars worth of gas in it. And I can't afford it. I can't afford the gas anymore," Hammer said. "I've loved this truck intensely."Hammer said he was selling the car at CarMax and had already bought a smaller <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hybrid-car-shopping-plug-in-traditional-what-to-know-2024-6">hybrid car</a> to make up for it."I'm probably gonna put about 10 bucks of gas in it a month," Hammer said.Later in the video, Hammer recalled the many memories he had with the car, such as hospital and camping trips."Here's to new beginnings. It's my birthday tomorrow so August 28th I will be starting my birthday in a new car, in a new apartment, in a new life in Los Angeles," Hammer said.Hammer didn't explain why he moved back to LA, but the actor might be looking to return to the entertainment industry.In June, Hammer said on the "Painful Lessons" podcast that he has written a script with a friend, which he hopes to turn into his next project.<h2 id="94cb4af5-d04a-42ae-9ff4-26986af9c7e4">Hammer hasn't been in a movie in years</h2>Hammer has not been in a movie since 2022's "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/death-on-the-nile-trailer-poriot-gal-gadot-armie-hammer-2020-8">Death on the Nile</a>," which was filmed in 2019. Following the allegations in 2021, Hammer was dropped by his talent agency and publicist and left two movie projects and a TV series.Though Hammer is a descendant of oil tycoon Armand Hammer, the actor said in an episode of the "Club Random with Bill Maher" podcast in July that he is broke and doesn't have any share of the family money."I have come to the place where I understand that there are no free lunches. And anything that you take always has strings," Hammer said. "I would rather go get a job selling timeshares. I'd rather go get a job."Hammer added he couldn't get a work permit in the Cayman Islands.

Disgraced actor Armie Hammer says he can't afford gas after his career tanked following cannibalism and sexual assault allegations        

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Brooke Shields' daughter said she found out about her mother's alleged sexual assault while watching her documentary.</li><li>"I was learning about things the same time that the world was," Grier Henchy told People.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brooke-shields-photos-fascinating-career-from-child-star-to-now-2023-4">Brooke Shields'</a> younger daughter said she found out about her mother's alleged sexual assault when she was watching last year's eye-opening <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pretty-baby-brooke-shields-most-shocking-revelations-2023-3">documentary "Pretty Baby</a>."<a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brooke-shields-didnt-want-daughter-grier-henchy-modeling-career-2023-6">Grier Henchy</a>, the model and actor's second daughter with her <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brooke-shields-marriage-chris-henchy-family-teenage-daughters-grier-rowan-2023-4">husband Chris Henchy</a>, told <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://people.com/brooke-shields-younger-daughter-had-no-idea-mom-was-sexually-assaulted-until-pretty-baby-doc-exclusive-8703586">People</a> that she couldn't "get through" the whole documentary after watching her mom emotionally recount the experience on camera."I was learning about things the same time that the world was and I just took it more deeply and personally," Grier said.In the documentary, Shields lifted the lid on her experience of being sexualized from a young age following her <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brooke-shields-praises-pretty-baby-costar-keith-carradine-protective-gracious-2023-4">breakout performance playing a child prostitute</a> at age 11.The documentary used a mixture of archival footage and sit-down interviews with Shields, who said for the first time publicly that she had been <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brooke-shields-sexual-assault-hollywood-executive-2023-3">sexually assaulted by an unnamed male Hollywood executive</a> when she was in her early 20s.<div type="image" title="Brooke Shields and her daughter Grier Shields in &quot;Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields&quot;" height="1440" width="2560" msid="112955262" hostid="261" sizebytes="53314"></div>While Shields' other daughter, Rowan, 21, knew about the sexual assault before the documentary's release, Grier, 18, hadn't been told."I didn't prepare her," the 59-year-old told People, adding that it was "a miscommunication.""I had explained it was an exploration of sexualization of women in my industry but I was naively thinking that because we had such a solid, healthy, fairly normal existence and I'm not completely damaged that she would say, 'Wow you've come through a lot but look where we are today,'" she added.Shields said she tried to tell Grier that there was a "happy ending" but said her daughter responded: "I will never be OK with thinking something bad happened to you.""She ended up missing the happy part," Shields continued. "She felt helpless, and just as a mom, we make mistakes and sometimes we make assumptions."In the documentary, which was directed by Lana Wilson, Shields said the assault occurred shortly after she graduated from Princeton University and after she agreed to go for a dinner that she believed was a work meeting.Afterward, the unnamed attacker invited her up to his hotel room to call a cab and assaulted her once they were alone, she said.In an interview with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/brooke-shields-interview-documentary-pretty-baby-sexual-assault-1235302084/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> last year, Shields said she didn't know if she'd ever be able to speak publicly about the incident."It has taken me many years of therapy to even be able to talk about it. I definitely have worked very hard through it, and I've learned to process it," she said.

Brooke Shields' daughter says she only found out her mom had been sexually assaulted while watching her tell-all documentary

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A former SAP account manager is breaking her NDA to speak out about a workplace sexual assault.</li><li>Nondisclosure agreements are often used to silence employees following claims of workplace abuse.</li></ul>By March of 2020, Ashley Kostial thought she'd been through the worst of it. She'd worked through months of intensive treatment for post-traumatic stress and was focused on managing her mental health and landing a new job.It had been nearly a year since Kostial reported being raped by a colleague during a work trip for a subsidiary of the global enterprise software firm, SAP. She'd met him for the first time in May 2019, when she was an account manager, as they prepared for a sales meeting in Plano, Texas. Afterward, they got drinks at the Marriott hotel bar. The last thing Kostial remembered from that night, she later told a police detective, was getting into the elevator with him.Her account of what happened next is based on interviews, a forensic exam, and a police report.The next morning, Kostial woke up in a panic, fearing she'd missed her flight, only to find scratches on her body and her bra and underwear ripped. Disoriented, she walked into the bathroom and saw her colleague's credit card on the white shag carpet. She looked at her phone and realized that around 2 a.m., she'd called her then-girlfriend repeatedly, in what dawned on her were frantic cries for help.Only later, after rushing to the airport, did another memory come back, she told police: her colleague on top of her on the hotel bed.Surveillance footage showed her exiting the hotel elevator with her colleague that night; a rape exam conducted after she flew back home documented bruising on her shoulder, arm, and thigh, and abrasions on her pelvis.Kostial recounted what she could piece together about that night to police in Plano, where the incident took place, and in Phoenix, where she lived. She cooperated with an HR investigation by SAP. All that was left was to sit through a grueling all-day mediation to reach a settlement agreement that would both end her employment with Ariba, the SAP subsidiary, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-tech-workers-nda-culture-silence-2021-7?r=tsr">gag her from ever speaking about</a> the most traumatic day of her life.That's when the men with cameras started showing up. Men, parked outside of her house, who she came to suspect were representatives of her employer-sponsored disability insurance provider, Aetna.Unable to work and consumed by her recovery, Kostial had filed for long-term disability care as she grappled with symptoms of PTSD that her psychologist attributed to the sexual assault. In a letter to Aetna, her psychologist had written that Kostial was experiencing insomnia, depression, emotional turmoil, dissociation, and intrusive thoughts, and she had been unable to return to work "due to clinically significant symptoms and major impairment to occupational and social functioning."Aetna denied her claim.It was in March 2020, after Kostial fought back, appealing Aetna's decision, that the men showed up. Kostial would spot them, or her security camera would, so often that she began to wonder whether she could take her dog for a walk without being followed. Her attorney, Brad Schleier, would later tell her it wasn't unusual for insurance companies to monitor people appealing denials. (Schleier declined to comment.)"It was harder than the initial assault," Kostial said of being stalked. She started carrying a knife.The men only disappeared after Aetna denied her appeal. In a lengthy phone call with Aetna, her psychologist described the details of her assault and the array of trauma symptoms that still persisted. But Aetna's representative was not swayed."Psychological complaints themselves are not sufficient in determining functional impairment," she wrote. A week later, in April 2020, Aetna issued its formal denial.Kostial turned to an option of last resort, hiring Schleier to file a lawsuit alleging she'd been wrongfully denied coverage.By the time Schleier called her with Aetna's settlement offer, in June 2021, she hadn't received a paycheck from SAP in almost two years. She was exhausted and broke, facing mounting medical bills. The offer, after attorney's fees, amounted to just a few months of her old salary — and it came with another non-disclosure agreement. Read more:<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-tech-workers-nda-culture-silence-2021-7?r=tsr">How tech giants use NDAs to create a culture of silence in Silicon Valley</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-sec-response-under-scrutiny-after-whistleblower-comes-forward">Apple agrees to "make improvements" to its NDAs after whistleblower comes forward</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/six-things-nda-contract-look-for-tech-job-2021-7">These are the 6 most important things to watch out for when you sign an NDA</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-paid-250000-to-a-flight-attendant-who-accused-elon-musk-of-sexual-misconduct-2022-5">A SpaceX flight attendant said Elon Musk exposed himself and propositioned her for sex. The company paid $250,000 for her silence.</a> Like so many in her situation, Kostial took the money and signed.The pair of NDAs weighed heavily on her. Her agreement with SAP specified damages of up to $20,000 "for each occurrence of a breach of this confidentiality provision," a terrifying prospect while she was out of work. The NDA with Aetna allowed the insurer to claw back the settlement money she needed to pay her mortgage, and it didn't cap the amount of additional damages the firm could seek if she broke it."It feels like you're wearing this bomb that's strapped to you, which could detonate at any time if you speak up," she said.<h2 id="fc6197bc-a2e3-4f69-a6a4-835265ec33ad">An effort to hide insurance settlements</h2>NDAs have become ubiquitous in the workplace. The secrecy pacts, originally designed to protect sensitive intellectual property from being shared, are also used by companies to silence employees following allegations of sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and other workplace misconduct.When Kostial entered into one with Aetna, she became one of an untold number of Americans who have agreed to NDAs in another context altogether: to hide settlement terms with an insurance provider in the wake of a coverage dispute.The Aetna NDA only silenced her about the terms of her settlement, not the sexual assault. She remembers being stunned that she would have to sign a second NDA.<div type="image" title="Settlement agreement" height="2668" width="4000" msid="111258868" hostid="261" sizebytes="127992"></div>Initially, Kostial planned to return to her job at SAP once she was cleared to work again. Before the assault, she had loved working for the company, she said, and envisioned a long career with the firm. But then SAP's HR officer alerted Kostial to the results of the firm's investigation. SAP found that her colleague's conduct was "contrary" to company policy and that he "exhibited poor judgment," an email message shows, yet he would be allowed to continue working for SAP."That's when I knew that I couldn't work there anymore," Kostial said.SAP and Aetna, through spokespeople, declined to comment on Kostial's case or answer questions about their use of NDAs, such as whether they remain standard practice today.BI <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-tech-workers-nda-culture-silence-2021-7?r=tsr">documented the spread of these enforced secrecy pacts</a> in the tech industry in 2021, finding that tech companies both large and small routinely deploy NDAs in all sorts of situations, from protecting intellectual property to restricting discussion of workplace misconduct. BI reported Kostial's story then but referred to her by a pseudonym, Kira. She's decided to risk coming forward now because she views the NDAs she signed as unjust — and would like to see the use of NDAs ended for other victims of sexual assault.At BI's request, seven employment attorneys and scholars reviewed Kostial's settlement with Aetna. Several said that while it's common for health insurance firms to include NDAs in settlement agreements as a way to maintain negotiating leverage with other insured members, there is no way to know exactly how many are reached. That's because most NDAs are subject to mandatory arbitration, a private process that creates minimal publicly available records."Disability insurance has a lot of leverage in these situations. The insured typically doesn't have any income," said Nina Wasow, an attorney in Berkeley, California, who often represents clients with disability claims. "It's in their best interest not to have people be well-informed about what the marketplace is for the disability settlements. They don't want people talking about how crappy they are."Collecting data on the prevalence of NDAs is nearly impossible, legal experts said, as companies can use multiple statutes to go after breaches and the vast majority of individuals who sign such agreements never disclose them publicly.<h2 id="031c1406-731b-439f-b904-72fab3adcf31">A lack of data on the spread of NDAs</h2>Even as NDAs have spread into more and more sectors, how often they're enforced has remained a mystery. In 2022, Congress passed the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ224/PLAW-117publ224.pdf">Speak Out Act</a>, which bans the use of NDAs to gag victims of sexual abuse that were signed before the dispute arises, typically in employment agreements completed on the first day of an employee's new job. But the law doesn't prevent NDAs in settlements reached after the fact, such as the one Kostial signed.Judges in California and New York have historically refused to enforce NDAs, legal scholars said. New state laws in Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and elsewhere have further limited their use in settlements where sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace was alleged, based on where the employee lives. But Arizona, where Kostial was living at the time she was assaulted, doesn't prohibit NDAs in workplace settlements."Under some state laws, her employer would not be able to enforce an NDA against her for speaking out about this situation," said Jodi Short, a law professor at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco who has studied NDAs. "It seems odd that an insurer would be able to."While the National Labor Relations Board keeps statistics on complaints related to noncompete agreements, the agency doesn't track how often companies pursue employees for violating the terms of an NDA. In a sample of more than 100 state and federal court records containing the words "nondisclosure" and "sexual harassment" reviewed by BI, none had to do with the enforcement of NDAs.Several experts who study NDAs, including Evan Starr of the University of Maryland's business school, who co-authored a <a target="_blank" href="https://digital.sandiego.edu/law_fac_works/112/">2022 white paper </a>examining the spread of NDAs in the workplace, told BI that their primary purpose is to intimidate signatories from speaking publicly about something that could embarrass the company.Kostial experienced a form of this intimidation recently.Soon after BI sought comment on her case from Aetna, an email from Schleier, the lawyer who previously represented her, landed in her inbox. Aetna's attorneys "wanted me to contact you and remind you of the confidentiality obligation in the agreement," Schleier wrote. "Look forward to hearing back from you."<div type="image" title="A woman with long brown hair sits on a porch with her dog" height="2668" width="4000" msid="111258860" hostid="261" sizebytes="290176"></div>After Kostial settled her case against Aetna, she began to pick up the pieces of her life. She spent nearly a year applying for jobs and landed several first-round interviews. But she was often stymied during those conversations, she said, when questions would come up about her previous employer."I couldn't answer the questions," Kostial recalled. Anything she said, she feared, would risk breaking the terms of her first NDA. "SAP always loomed large in the back of my mind."Many other tech workers bound by NDAs <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-nondisclosure-agreements-silence-control-workers-silicon-valley-2021-7">told BI</a> that the agreements posed similar obstacles to a new job search.Eventually, in 2021, Kostial landed a job at a small Oakland-based software company working in data analytics, where she remained for nearly three years.She often finds herself thinking back to the chain of events that led her to this point. Especially galling was the wall of disbelief Kostial encountered, from HR officials to police.SAP's HR team seemingly gave credence to the claim by her alleged attacker that the two had consensual sex, ignoring Kostial's bruises and scrapes that were documented during her rape exam — and the fact that she is gay. In an email to Kostial, the detective assigned to her case from the Plano Police Department in Texas said of her alleged attacker, "I am not able to prove any part of his story that night was a lie." (No criminal charges were filed against Kostial's colleague and Plano police closed their investigation a month after the alleged assault.)Kostial has discussed her situation with Vincent White, a New York city-based lawyer who specializes in workplace NDAs and advises signatories on the risks associated with breaking them. Kostial said that whenever she has brought up wanting to speak out about her agreement, White has reminded her that doing so could entail "inflicting self-harm," whether by triggering attempts by SAP or Aetna to claw back her settlement monies or by effectively blacklisting herself from future work in the tech industry.Kostial's journey has led her to meet with lawmakers in Arizona and advocates in Illinois. She's participated in an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cantbuymysilence.com/testimonies-1/story-5">international advocacy campaign</a>, Can't Buy My Silence, led by Zelda Perkins, a former assistant of Harvey Weinstein's, and legal scholar Julie Macfarlane, to bring awareness to how NDAs are used to silence victims of assault and harassment. She's also developing an app, called Face Uncomfortable, to help employees report instances of workplace misconduct and save documentation.Kostial recently left her software job to focus on preventing other workers from being silenced by the kinds of secrecy pacts that have shaped her life. Though she's long been engaged, the couple have put off marriage. Kostial is fearful that if they wed, her wife's finances could be affected if either SAP or Aetna pursues her for breaking her NDA.Whenever she's seized by anxiety, Kostial reminds herself of how hard she's fought to move past the sexual assault and why she's coming forward."There's nothing that could happen after this that would be worse than what I've already been through," she said. "I hope that if there's one person who needs to hear this, they will."Just two weeks ago, Kostial received another email from her former lawyer."Hey Ashley — Just following up," he wrote. He said he'd received another message from Aetna, reminding him about her NDA.Kostial never replied.

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