Appeals court refuses to stay defamation suit against Trump by former 'Apprentice' contestant
President Donald Trump/Shutterstock.com.
A state appeals court in New York has refused to stay a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos.
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, in Manhattan did not give a reason for denying Trump’s request for a stay in its one-page order released Thursday, report Reuters, Bloomberg News, the Hollywood Reporter and the Washington Post.
Trump had sought to stay the suit while he appeals a judge’s refusal to toss the case, according to Bloomberg.
Judge Jennifer Schechter ruled in March that Trump is not immune from the state court lawsuit. Trump had argued the supremacy clause required the suit to be stayed.
Zervos claims Trump defamed her by denying her allegations of unwanted kissing and groping when she met with him to discuss job opportunities.
Zervos alleges Trump kissed her twice on the lips during a 2007 meeting at his office, and kissed and groped her the next time she saw him at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel, where she had gone to join him for dinner.
A lawyer for Trump, Marc Kasowitz, criticized the decision in a statement emailed to Bloomberg. “There is no valid reason in this case—in which plaintiff is seeking merely $3,000 in damages and which plaintiff’s counsel has repeatedly insisted was brought for political purposes—for the court not to grant the requested stay,” he said.
Trump fails to halt 'Apprentice' contestant's defamation lawsuit https://t.co/EKe5D67Fam pic.twitter.com/a3cKjnwtcb
— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) May 17, 2018
