Investing.com — A New York state appeals court ruled in favor of billionaire investor Leon Black on Thursday, dismissing a defamation claim brought by Guzel Ganieva. Ganieva had also accused the co-founder of Apollo Global Management (NYSE:) of rape and sexual abuse.
The Appellate Division in Manhattan decided in a 4-1 ruling that Ganieva’s nondisclosure agreement from October 2015 encompassed all her allegations against Black. This includes her claim that Black defamed her by stating she attempted to extort him.
The court further noted that even if Ganieva had signed the agreement under pressure, she had “ratified” it by accepting $9 million from Black. This sum included a monthly stipend of $100,000, all received before she filed a lawsuit in June 2021.
The majority of the court acknowledged the trauma associated with sexual abuse but disagreed with the dissenting view. They stated that the plaintiff should not be allowed to reject a contractual arrangement after benefiting from it for over five years.
Black has refuted all of Ganieva’s allegations.
The dissenting judge argued that Ganieva, a former Russian model, should be allowed to sue. This was based on the claim that she remained under “the same continuing duress” until March 2021. This was when she first publicly discussed her six-year relationship with Black, which concluded in 2014.
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