According to the lawsuit, Monteverde’s behavior was sexually improper and violated New York state laws as well as the human rights law of the city.
The list of allegations includes Monteverde pushing Marchuk to the floor inside his office and that he “quickly, forcefully and painfully had sex with her.” The complaint further mentions, “Ms. Marchuk implored Mr. Monteverde to stop, but he disregarded her pleas and continued having sex with her.”
However, Marchuk’s lawyer said in an interview that Marchuk never went to prosecutors or the police over the incident.
A co-founder of Faruqi & Faruqi, Lubna Faruqi, said in a statement: “These claims are completely without merit brought by a disgruntled former employee. We look forward to aggressively defending our reputation in court and have every confidence we will be vindicated.”
According to the lawsuit, Monteverde began making advances within three days of Marchuk being hired at the firm as an associate in September 2011. Apparently, Monteverde asked Marchuk to meet him at Lex Bar in New York where he “aggressively grabbed and kissed (her) and attempted to fondle her breasts.” Marchuk tried to rebuff his advances, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also mentions that Marchuk related the happenings to a female partner at the law firm, who said it would be futile to complain about Monteverde to senior partners. In fact, the lawsuit mentions that Emily Komlossy, the female partner, told Marchuk that complaining against Monteverde may not be a good idea.
Marchuk said in her complaint that she was debt-ridden by student loans incurred from studying law and she did not want to be portrayed as a “troublemaker” by accusing one of the most important partners of her employer firm as a sexual harasser within the first week of her employment.
According to Marchuk, Monteverde warned her at about December 2011 that she had been testing her loyalty and that she had betrayed him by talking to Komlossy. He also warned her that she may not be in the law firm much longer. It was at this point of time that Marchuk gave in to his advances and went in to his office to save her job.
Later in the month, Marchuk resigned from the law firm, suffered from depression and was diagnosed with posttraumatic
stress disorder.
Other law firms wouldn’t employ her, and on top of that the market was tight anyway for new openings. Ultimately, Marchuk had to move out of her residence in Manhattan and went to live with her parents in New Jersey. She later took an in-house legal job with an insurance company in New Jersey.
The lawsuit also alleged that Nadeem Faruqi, the managing partner and co-founder of the law firm was aware about Monteverde’s doings and his treatment of Marchuk.
The statement in response from the law firm observed, “Like the rest of these fictitious and malicious allegations, we look forward to our opportunity to refute them in court.”
