Strauss-Kahn, hotel maid settle civil lawsuit

NEW YORK

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Dec. 10 agreed to a financial settlement with a New York hotel maid who had accused him of sexual assault. A judge ordered that details of the deal between Strauss-Kahn and Nafissatou Diallo, a 33-year-old illiterate migrant from Guinea, be kept confidential.

Outside the courthouse, Diallo thanked God and “everyone who supported me all over the world.” The lawsuit settlement came after prosecutors dropped related criminal charges last year, saying Diallo had credibility problems. For her, the deal means she “can move on with her life,” said one of her lawyers, Kenneth Thompson.

For Strauss-Kahn, it closes another of a number of sexual allegations that have confronted him since Diallo told police in May 2011 that he’d attacked her. He is still fighting charges of aggravated pimping in France.

Diallo ‘paid’ $6 million
Strauss-Kahn attorney William Taylor and Amit Mehta said the former diplomat was “pleased to have arrived at a resolution” of the New York suit. Lawyers have dismissed a report in France’s Le Monde newspaper that Diallo would be paid $6 million. A former U.S. prosecutor Matthew Galluzzo predicted a sum of around $5 million.

Compiled from AP, AFP and Reuters stories by the Daily News staff.