By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) – A New York judge is expected
to rule next Tuesday whether to toss out a civil lawsuit against
former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director
Dominique Strauss-Kahn brought by the hotel maid who accused him
of sexually assaulting her.
A spokesman for the court system, David Bookstaver, said the
decision will be released on Tuesday morning. The ruling had
initially been expected at the end of this week.
Nafissatou Diallo, a maid at the Sofitel Hotel in midtown
Manhattan, accused Strauss-Kahn of attacking her in his suite
last May 14 and forcing her to perform oral sex.
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon is considering a
motion from Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit
because Strauss-Kahn enjoyed diplomatic immunity as head of the
IMF at the time of the encounter.
Strauss-Kahn was arrested and resigned from the IMF days
later, ending his plans to seek the French presidency.
New York prosecutors dropped the criminal charges against
him last August, saying they were no longer convinced of
Diallo’s credibility after she changed her account several times
of what she did in the moments following the incident.
Diallo filed the lawsuit a few weeks before the dismissal of
the criminal case. Strauss-Kahn has said the encounter was
consensual, and his lawyers have accused Diallo of financial
motives.
McKeon heard arguments from lawyers on both sides earlier
this month. The lawsuit was filed in the Bronx, where Diallo
resides.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Philip Barbara)
