A Manhattan judge has ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to sit for a deposition in a $10 million civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault, harassment and unpaid wages. The questioning is scheduled for December 15 as the long-running case moves toward sworn testimony and possible settlement talks.
According to the New York Daily News, Justice Nicholas Moyne also criticized Giuliani’s lawyer for trying to stretch deadlines, saying there should be no reason the defense team had not acted. The judge urged both sides to make settlement discussions a priority.
The lawsuit was filed by Noelle Dunphy in 2023 and accuses Giuliani of sexual assault, battery, harassment, a hostile work environment and wage violations. Giuliani denies the allegations and has said Dunphy was never his assistant, characterizing their relationship as a brief, consensual romance rather than an employment arrangement, according to the court’s March ruling.
Dunphy’s amended complaint says Giuliani hired her in January 2019 as his director of business development and executive assistant, promising a salary of $1 million per year that would be deferred and kept secret. The filing alleges she worked for roughly two years without receiving the promised compensation and was repeatedly subjected to unwanted sexual conduct and harassment.
In March, Moyne rejected Giuliani’s effort to throw out the case, ruling that Dunphy’s claims were legally sufficient to continue. The decision emphasized that a motion to dismiss is not a trial and that disputes over credibility, the nature of the relationship and what actually happened must be addressed later, as outlined in the written decision.
The judge’s concern about Giuliani’s finances comes as the former mayor continues dealing with other major legal liabilities. The Associated Press reported that Giuliani reached a settlement with two Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him, while also reporting that he had already surrendered valuable property and other assets.
Deposition Could Bring A New Test For Giuliani
Moyne’s push for settlement does not mean the Dunphy case has been resolved, and no settlement was announced Wednesday. For now, Giuliani’s December 15 deposition is the next major checkpoint in a case that has spent years in procedural fights instead of reaching a trial.
The matter is civil, not criminal, and the allegations remain unproven. If the case proceeds, testimony and evidence gathered during discovery could determine whether Dunphy’s claims survive to summary judgment or trial, while Giuliani’s denials will remain part of the record.
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