USA Herald – This is the case of Guzel Ganieva v. Leon Black, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.
Guzel Ganieva, 39, is a Russian model who claims in her lawsuit filed in 2021, that billionaire Leon Black, 70, took her to Florida with the intention of having sex with him and Jeffrey Epstein. Ganieva accuses Black of defamation, emotional distress, and crimes of violence motivated by gender; in filed documents, she refers to Black as a “sadist.”
Leon David Black is an American investor, co-founder, and former CEO of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Black also had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the two men were often seen together socializing and dining.
Leon Black and his legal team recently asked a New York state court, to sanction Wigdor LLP for filing “harassing and frivolous” lawsuits on behalf of two women who say that Black sexually assaulted them, arguing that Wigdor engaged in an abuse of process by failing to properly research or investigate the facts of the case.
Wigdor Law is one of the leading employment litigation law firms in the country. The plaintiff, Guzel Ganieva is represented by Jeanne M. Christensen, a partner at Wigdor LLP.
Leon Black is represented by a slew of attorneys, namely, E. Danya Perry, Peter A. Gwynne, and Alexander K. Parachini of Perry Guha LLP, Michael B. Carlinsky and Jennifer J. Barrett of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Susan Estrich of Estrich Goldin LLP.
Black says he had a consensual relationship with Ganieva and that another New York state court suit, filed in November, by Cheri Pierson, who Wigdor also represents, exposes the firm for its “improper motives and tactics.”
Pierson accused the billionaire investor of raping her during a terrifying encounter in Epstein’s New York City home. In her suit, she says Jeffrey Epstein arranged for her to give Black a massage at Epstein’s mansion and that Black sexually assaulted her during the encounter.
Black’s request for sanctions accuses Wigdor of introducing “lurid” allegations from Pierson’s suit, as evidence into the Ganieva case, and that Pierson’s complaint filed in November was not credible.
Black’s bid for sanctions targeted Pierson directly by saying “Pierson’s long history of vexatious litigation and the issues raised by the 35 or so lawsuits in which she has been involved over the years would call into question her entire account.”
Black’s legal team argued that Pierson’s accusations lack corroborative evidence and that Wigdor ignored “glaring credibility issues.”
Guzel Ganieva accuses Black of forcing himself on her sexually in 2008, and then trapping her in a cycle of dependency, and subjecting her to nonconsensual “sadistic sexual acts.” Ganieva also accused Black of raping her at her home in July 2014.
Black countersued Ganieva and Wigdor in New York federal court, accusing her of conspiring with the employment law firm and others to take him down, but that case was dismissed in June, however, Black is appealing that decision.
Black’s current request for sanction against Wigdor is under submission.
