LAWSUIT/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “A New York state appeals court on Thursday [5-17-18] denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to halt a defamation lawsuit by a former contestant on his reality TV show ‘The Apprentice’ who accused him of making unwanted sexual advances. In a one-page order, the Appellate Division in Manhattan did not explain why it refused to stay the lawsuit by Summer Zervos while the president appeals a March 20 lower court ruling that allowed the California restaurateur to pursue her case. The White House was not immediately available for comment. Trump is appealing a ruling by Justice Jennifer Schecter of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, which rejected his claim that as president he was immune from lawsuits over private conduct predating his entering the White House. Zervos, an ‘Apprentice’ contestant in 2005, accused Trump of kissing her against her will at a 2007 meeting in New York and later groping her at a Beverly Hills hotel. She first came forward in October 2016, a month before the presidential election, following the release of a 2005 ‘Access Hollywood’ recording in which Trump spoke in vulgar terms about women.”
-Jonathan Stempel, “Trump fails to halt ‘Apprentice’ contestant’s defamation lawsuit,” Reuters, May 17, 2018 9:12 am