ALBANY — State Attorney General Letitia James has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed against her and her office in December by a woman whose sexual harassment allegations against the attorney general’s former chief of staff were substantiated by an outside investigation.
A motion filed on behalf of James and her office in state Supreme Court contends the woman’s forcible kissing allegations against Ibrahim Khan, who had been the attorney general’s longtime chief of staff and confidant, centered on an incident that took place outside a Brooklyn bar during a 2021 political fundraiser that had nothing to do with the attorney general or her office.
The woman, Sofia Quintanar, had previously worked as a deputy press secretary for James’ office beginning in 2020. She left that job in July 2021, about four months before she said Khan kissed her against her will while they were talking at the fundraiser. Her lawsuit seeks to hold the attorney general and her office liable for employment discrimination and civil rights violations based on Khan’s alleged conduct. The civil complaint also accuses Khan, who is a defendant in the case, of interfering with her effort to get a job with James’ reelection campaign about 10 months after the incident.
“The complaint does not allege that (the attorney general’s office) or James knew about Khan’s alleged conduct towards (Quintanar), much less condoned or participated in it,” the motion filed by James’ attorneys states. “Nor does the complaint allege that either was aware of or played any role in considering (Quintanar’s) ‘indirect and unofficial’ application to the campaign.”
James is being represented in the case by Davis Polk & Wardwell, a Manhattan law firm that was hired by the state Assembly in March 2021 to lead the Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation of sexual harassment allegations against former Gov. Andrew…
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