In a Manhattan courthouse earlier this month, a subpoena filed last March is coming to light. The subpoena asks the Trump presidency for all documents related to Summer Zervos and all other documents pertaining to Trump sexually harassing any women. Zervos filed a sexual harassment claim against the president last January. Lawyers for Trump claim that because Trump is the sitting president, no lawsuit filed in a state has legal merit. Trump and his staff claim that the accusations are "fame-seeking" and maintained the lawsuit should be dismissed.
In a motion filed, Trump's lawyers said because this is a state lawsuit it cannot proceed against a sitting president.
The lawsuit filed by Attorney Gloria Allred on behalf of Zervos alleges that while Zervos was a contestant on "The Apprentice," Trump kissed her twice on the lips during a lunch meeting in his New York City office. Additionally, in a separate incident in Beverly Hills, Zervos claims Donald Trump kissed her aggressively and touched her breast.
Trump denies Zervos' claims while others express remorse for partcipating in hostile work environments
Trump denies Zervos' claims. In a statement given when the lawsuit was filed; Trump's account states in part that he never went to her hotel or greeted her unprofessionally.
Trump went on to call Ms Zervos' claims (and another woman making similar claims) "total fiction,... all false stuff" and expressed that there is a "concerted effort" to take down his campaign.
Meanwhile, others such as CNN's Anthony Bourdain expressed disdain for the workplace atmosphere that endorses sexual harassment. Bourdain stated in an interview on CNN that he did not stand-up to the harassment he witnessed first-hand in the restaurant industry.
He went on to articulate remorse, but added: "I'm not that optimistic about the human race," indicating that he thinks the harassment will continue. Nonetheless, Bourdain, who is the author of "Kitchen Confidential," the host of CNN's popular program "Parts Unknown," and the boyfriend of Asia Argento, who is one of Weinstein's accusers; went on to state that he felt things were changing.
Bourdain asserts that the more women come forward and express their experiences, the tide will begin to shift. People, he said, will not stay silent.
There appears to be a host of sexual harassment claims making their way into the media spotlight; only time will tell if this will be a watershed moment where Bourdain ends up on the right side of history, and Trump the wrong side.
