Alina Habba, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, has reportedly quietly settled a lawsuit with a former Bedminster golf club waitress over an illegal non-disclosure agreement that the former employee alleged Habba tricked her into signing to keep quiet about a quid pro quo sexual harassment.
On August 27, Habba signed a monetary settlement, the terms of which are unknown at this time, with the former employee Alice Bianco. NOTUS first reported the settlement.
It marks the end of a nearly year-long civil lawsuit that began when Bianco sued Trump National Golf Club for violating the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, alleging that a former supervisor engaged in a quid pro quo sexual harassment.
Trump was not named as a defendant in the suit.
In the lawsuit, Bianco accused Habba of feigning friendship with her to get her to sign an NDA that conditioned her to keep quiet about the sexual harassment allegations or face a fine of $1,000 per day.
NDAs that intend to conceal details related to claims of harassment, discrimination or retaliation are unenforceable in New Jersey.
The golf club settled with Bianco back in March but notably did not include Habba in that settlement, leaving room for Bianco to sue her personally.
The two attended mediation and agreed to settle the matter out of court, according to NOTUS.
“I am happy to have my life back and hope other women know that not only is it illegal in NJ to silence victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation – now it is illegal throughout the country to silence women who are victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault with NDAs,” Bianco said in a statement.
“Victims of sexual predators should not be made to feel ashamed or embarrassed – and we will not be silenced,” Bianco added.
The Independent has reached out to Habba for comment.
In her original lawsuit, Bianco detailed that she began working at Trump National Golf Club in May 2021 when she was 21 years old and alleged that shortly thereafter her supervisor began to sexually harass her.
She alleged that the supervisor “made it clear to her that he could make her life easy or hard” otherwise known as a quid pro quo. He allegedly continued to sexually harass her leading a co-worker to help Bianco draft a letter to management.
Shortly after Bianco hired an employment lawyer, Habba approached her at the club and offered to “help” her.
Despite being close friends with Trump, Habba claimed to be neutral and struck up what appeared to be camaraderie with Bianco – allegedly advising her to ignore texts and calls from her employment lawyer until eventually, Bianco was without legal representation.
Bianco alleged that Habba convinced her to sign an NDA that she claimed would ensure she was “protected” from the sexual harassment allegations going public and give her money that would be “tax-free”.
The lawsuit alleges that weeks after signing the NDA and being paid, Habba became an official lawyer for Trump. Then when it came time to pay taxes, Bianco learned that she would have to pay taxes on the amount given to her because she was given the money through payroll.
In response to the allegations, Habba told POLITICO last year, “I always conduct myself ethically and acted no differently in this circumstance.”
Habba has represented the former president in various lawsuits including his lawsuit against The New York Times and his niece Mary Trump, the defamation case with E. Jean Carroll, the civil lawsuit with Michael Cohen and other legal matters.
