A former server at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, claims she was forced into having sex with her supervisor and later deceived by the former president’s attorney Alina Habba into signing a non-disclosure agreement over it.
Alice Bianco filed the sexual harassment lawsuit against her employer Wednesday in Middlesex County Superior Court, accusing the club’s food and beverage manager, Pavel Melichar, of pressuring her “to engage in sex as a quid pro quo for continued employment and ‘protection.’”
Melichar began to harass Bianco and forcibly attempted to kiss her shortly after she joined the golf club’s staff in 2021, according to the lawsuit, which was first reported on by Politico.
When reached for comment, Melichar told the outlet he did not “know anything” about the allegations and had “nothing to say.”
Bianco eventually sought an employment lawyer after an unnamed co-worker informed Trump’s personal staff about Melichar’s harassment of her and other female employees, and she was contacted by a human resources officer.
Habba, who was a member of the golf club but not serving as Trump’s attorney at the time, told Bianco she “had heard” about the legal situation and wanted to “help her,” according to the lawsuit.
The two exchanged friendly text messages over several weeks, connecting over their shared love of music, according to the suit. Bianco is now a recording artist, according to Politico.
Habba went on to encourage Bianco to “fire” her current employment lawyer, the suit states, and helped negotiate a non-disclosure agreement that provided the server with what court documents describe as a “paltry sum.”
Habba also allegedly assured Bianco that the settlement payment would not be taxed, and she would receive money to attend therapy.
According to the suit, Habba was “pretending to act as a ‘neutral’ ‘friend’” to Bianco, while working “secretly to help” Lamington Farm Club, which owns the New Jersey golf resort, and “Donald Trump,” though neither he nor Habba are named as co-defendants.
Habba did not begin working as Trump’s personal attorney until one month after the NDA was finalized.
“I always conduct myself ethically and acted no differently in this circumstance,” she said in a statement.
The lawsuit claims the NDA violated New Jersey law and is asking for the golf club to drop enforcement of the agreement while paying Bianco’s legal fees and letting her keep money from the settlement.
It would also refer Habba’s purportedly “unethical behavior” for intervening between Bianco and her lawyer to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics.
“Alina Habba used the unethical silencing of my client, Ali Bianco, as a way to propel herself into Trump’s inner circle. Her behavior was predatory. Pretending to be ‘neutral’ when acting on behalf of one party is clearly unethical,” attorney Nancy Erika Smith said in a statement to Politico.
“I didn’t know my rights. I didn’t know Alina wasn’t supposed to discuss a case with me without my lawyer. I didn’t know New Jersey had banned non-disclosure agreements for victims of sexual harassment,” Bianco also told the outlet in a statement.
“All I knew was that the person claiming to be my friend and adviser threw me in the trash as soon as she pressured me into silence.”