Strauss-Kahn agrees payout to New York hotel maid in sex assault lawsuit
Scandal-hit former IMF chief settles sex assault lawsuit in New York court
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has agreed to pay a financial settlement to a New York hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault.
The payout, reportedly worth several million US dollars, is the latest humiliation to the one-time French presidential contender. But a judge ordered that details of Monday's deal between Strauss-Kahn and Nafissatou Diallo, a 33-year-old illiterate migrant from Guinea, be kept confidential.
Diallo said Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom of the hotel suite she was cleaning, chased her down and forced her to perform oral sex. Strauss-Kahn said the acts were consensual.
His lawyers dismissed French media reports that the maid would receive several million dollars, but experts said a substantial payment is the norm in such a case.
Strauss-Kahn, 63, was not in New York for the hearing. He is also under investigation over other scandals in France.
Monday's deal enables him to close one chapter. But Strauss-Kahn has another tough legal date a week today, when he will learn whether he faces an investigation into pimping charges arising from allegations that he helped arranged sex parties with prostitutes for wealthy men, including himself.
