A judge was expected to rule Tuesday on whether to allow a hotel maid's sexual assault lawsuit against Dominique Strauss-Kahn after the former International Monetary Fund leader claimed diplomatic immunity.
Bronx state Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon heard arguments in March on the civil case that emerged from the May 2011 hotel room encounter. The incident also led to now-dismissed criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn, then a French presidential contender, and other allegations about his sexual conduct that sank his political career.
The judge has been weighing whether to allow the lawsuit to go forward.
The housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, 33, said Strauss-Kahn, 63, tried to rape her when she arrived to clean his Manhattan hotel suite. Strauss-Kahn has denied doing anything violent during the encounter.
Prosecutors dropped related criminal charges last summer, saying they had developed doubts about Diallo's trustworthiness because she had lied about her background and her actions right after the alleged attack. She has insisted she told the truth about what happened in the encounter itself.
Strauss-Kahn didn't assert immunity from the criminal prosecution, and he resigned his IMF job days after his arrest. But his lawyers argued he should be immune from the lawsuit, which was filed about three months later. They say his job title afforded him the luxury under international rules.
