Judge advances $10 million sexual harassment case against Rudy Giuliani

MANHATTAN (CN) — A $10 million workplace harassment claim in which Rudy Giuliani stands accused of “demanding” sex from an employee will move forward to discovery, a Manhattan judge said Monday.

While New York Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Moyne reserved ruling fully on Giuliani’s bid to dismiss the case, the judge acknowledged the defense team effectively conceded to one of the causes of action in the 68-page complaint. That means regardless of his impending ruling, at least part of the case will proceed.

“We’re going to be moving forward with discovery,” Moyne said.

Noelle Dunphy brought the case against the former New York City mayor in 2023. She claims that, while working for Giuliani between 2019 and 2021, he frequently subjected her to booze- and Viagra-fueled sexual harassment that culminated with him forcing her into sex.

“He held her by her hair,” Dunphy claims in the complaint.

According to Dunphy, Giuliani also owes her roughly $2 million in unpaid wages after reneging on a promise to pay her a $1 million yearly salary.

But while arguing for the case’s dismissal Monday, Giuliani’s lawyer said Dunphy never even worked for Giuliani. Rather, he said they “dated for a few months” and that Giuliani never seriously offered her such gaudy pay.

Adam Katz, who represents Giuliani and Giuliani’s corporate entities, pointed to Dunphy’s relatively limited business acumen when compared with her supposed duties under Giuliani — which included advising him on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law Katz said is so complex many judges and attorneys struggle to grasp it.

However, the judge suggested the motion to dismiss stage is too soon to question Dunphy’s credibility in this way.

“What you’re saying is maybe she’s not qualified to do that,” Moyne said. “There’s potentially a lot of holes you can poke in that story, but again we’re not really at the poking holes stage.”

And Dunphy’s lawyer Justin Kelton rebuked Giuliani’s argument that her accusations were “vague,” saying she had pleaded with “far more specificity than most assault and battery claims.” Kelton said Dunphy outlined specific instances of her being pressured into “unwanted bodily contact, including because [Giuliani] was intoxicated and unpredictable.”

“She spent months working in constant fear of this contact,” Kelton said.

One of the ways Giuliani pressured Dunphy into sex was by abusing his position as her lawyer and as her boss, she claims in the lawsuit. In one instance, she accuses Giuliani of offering her $300,000 if she would forgo her legal rights in a pending case and “fuck me like crazy.”

That statement was recorded, Dunphy claims.

Katz said Monday there is nothing inappropriate with an attorney having a relationship with a client, to which Moyne said, “I think I would disagree."

Dunphy also recorded a 2019 conversation with Giuliani in which he described his sexual fantasies about Wendy Rhoades, a prominent character on the popular TV show “Billions.”

“She wears all that black shit, she’s got a whip and an electric prod,” Giuliani said, according to Dunphy, who claims she “made it clear that she was not interested and immediately changed the subject.”

Giuliani’s frequent “alcohol-drenched rants” and sexist comments added to the “unbearable” work environment, Dunphy claims. The man once known as “America’s Mayor” supposedly “sexualized Hillary Clinton and mocked her body.” He also “sexualized Margaret Thatcher and wondered about the effect she would have on his penis,” according to Dunphy’s initial complaint.

Dunphy seeks no less than $10 million on claims of assault, battery, sexual harassment and hostile work environment.

Giuliani didn’t attend Monday’s hearing. Last time he joined the case’s proceedings, in a 2024 e-hearing, Moyne cut Giuliani’s microphone on several occasions as the former mayor lobbed attacks against his accuser and claimed the case was an “injustice.”

“Mr. Giuliani, I’m muting you,” Moyne said at the time. “I was hoping you could abide by the guidelines, but you can’t do this.”

Now 81, Giuliani has been disbarred from practicing law in both New York and Washington. Prior to that, he spent several years as the personal attorney of President Donald Trump during his first term.

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