A former Avenue Capital Group employee has accused billionaire co-founder Marc Lasry of repeated sexual harassment, including allegedly forcing the employee to kiss and hug him while groping her breasts, and then retaliating when she warned the firm about disclosure of information to investors.

The lawsuit comes just days after Lasry, Avenue Capital and co-founder Sonia Gardner sued Gina Strumaccusing her of running a decade-long campaign of harassment and blackmail and then seeking $50 million from the firm. A representative for Strum denied those claims in a statement to wealth.

According to the countersuit, Lasry and Gardner allegedly retaliated against Strum after she warned that Gardner’s alleged illness and surgery to remove a lung needed to be disclosed to investors. Strum’s suit also named clients and business partners. She alleged that lawyers at the Alston Bird law firm were alleged witnesses to certain conduct. And, Strum alleged harassment, discrimination or retaliation by Lasry and Gardner in dealings involving Calamos Asset Management, New York pension funds and an executive in the New York comptroller’s office. No one is named as a defendant. Strum alleged that another manager at Avenue Capital, who is not named in the suit, spread falsehoods about her, including that she slept with investors and married men to raise money, slept with Lasry and was a lesbian, according to the suit.

Strum alleged in her suit that Lasry routinely sexualized the workplace with his comments and would be ready to touch and tickle Strum when she was at the trading desk in front of other employees. She alleged that some of the conduct took place in front of clients, including one case of an alleged sexual comment made in front of an employee of Stepstone, an investment firm with $169 billion in assets under management.

“Lasry made it clear to Strum that she wanted both a romantic and a sexual relationship
her, despite the fact that Lasry is married,” the lawsuit alleges.

He provided a representative of Lasry, Gardner and Avenue Capital wealth with the following statement: “Mrs. Strum’s claims are completely false and represent her continued attempt to defame Mr. Lasry, Ms. Gardner and Avenue for financial gain. Among Ms. Strum’s most preposterous claims are her false claims about Ms. Gardner’s health. In reality, Mrs. Gardner is completely and demonstrably healthy. Ms. Strum’s desperate attempt to claim that Mr. Lasry acted inappropriately and sexually harassed her is completely untrue. These patently false and vindictive claims by Ms. Strum – and her repeated threats to defame their reputations and maliciously destroy them personally and their business unless she was paid $50 million – are the reasons why Mr. Lasry, Ms. Gardner and Avenue in October. 18 filed a defamation suit against her.”

The statement continued: “They refused to pay his exorbitant demands. Her claims filed yesterday include other statements that are defamatory and false. Mr. Lasry, Ms. Gardner and Avenue will respond to Ms. Strum’s defamatory false statements and defend their reputations to the fullest extent of the law.”

CK Hoffler, an attorney representing Strum, said wealth in a statement: “Gina Strum has filed a lawsuit against the defendants that will set the record straight. Without a doubt, we are confident that Ms. Strum will have her day in court and be vindicated. Marc Lasry’s claims are completely false and a feeble attempt to protect his reprehensible, illegal and sexually impermissible behavior in the workplace. Marc Lasry’s illegal conduct also extends to retaliation and bargaining in bad faith.”

Alston Bird and the New York City Comptroller’s office did not immediately respond Of luck requests for comments. Calamos confirmed that Calamos Avenue Management, LLC hired Strum as a consultant between 2019 and 2022, but declined to comment on pending litigation. A representative for Stepstone said it had no comment.

According to Strum’s lawsuit, the alleged harassment began the year she was hired in 2009. Strum was allegedly in Lasry’s office when she asked, “Are we just going to be friends? Don’t you want to be with me?” Strum claimed he rebuffed her advances, and that led to “an ongoing and ongoing pattern of sexual harassment,” according to the lawsuit. The complaint accuses Lasry of following Strum around the office, becoming visibly upset if she was in any other co-worker’s office, intimidating other male employees to stay away from her and touching her.

However, the previous lawsuit filed by Lasry alleged that he repeatedly rebuffed her advances and that Strum’s behavior was at times allegedly inappropriate and inappropriate. Lasry’s lawsuit included alleged lines from text messages and emails Strum sent her over the years, which the complaint described as “personal, obsessive and just plain inappropriate.” For example, Strum reportedly wrote, “You wonder why I love you so much.” And then: “Have you forgotten me? My life doesn’t quite work without you. Stop punishing me.”

Strum’s lawsuit alleged that Lasry retaliated by cutting off business opportunities, including a lawsuit in April 2024 in which Lasry changed the terms of an agreed term for a deal to offer retail mutual funds with exposure to private equity.

Because of the alleged conduct, Strum claims her “reputation was irreparably damaged” and that she “suffered severe emotional and financial harm at the hands of Lasry.” This year, according to the countersuit, Strum and Lasry expressed interest in an amicable resolution after Strum’s attorney sent him a letter detailing his legal claims.

But “instead of continuing those discussions, as represented counsel would, Lasry ran to court to file a frivolous and malicious lawsuit against Strum,” her lawsuit states.

This story was originally presented on Fortune.com