Even Donald Trumpโs lawyers canโt avoid being dragged into court.
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A lawsuit filed this week in New Jersey alleges that one the attorneys defending the former president against a civil investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James once called James a โBlack bitchโ after losing a ruling in the case, and routinely participated in other racist and inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
The suit was filed by NaโSayia Drayton, who is identified in court documents as a legal assistant and the only African-American woman who worked at the law firm of Habba Madaio & Associates. Drayton claims that in April of this year, the firmโs managing partner, Alina Habbaโwho is described in the suit as of Caucasian-American and โArabic descentโโburst out of a meeting with her partner Michael Madaio, who is white, yelling, โI hate that Black bitch,โ referring to James. Habba and Madaio had just been handed another L on Trumpโs behalf by a judge in the New York investigation, the lawsuit says.
Itโs unclear exactly which L Habba and Madaio were holding at the time, given Trumpโs legal team has tried several unsuccessful tactics to derail Jamesโ investigation since it began back in 2019. In April of this year, we reported that Jamesโ office asked a judge in New York to hold Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents. Later that month, a judge agreed, fining Trump $10,000 a day until he complied. Habba argued against both the subpoena itself and the fine.
The alleged racism doesnโt end there: Drayton also claims that Habba, Madaio and other white employees at the firm made a habit of blaring hip-hop and singing along to the lyricsโwhich was cool by herโincluding repeated use of the n-word in all its forms, hard-er includedโwhich was definitely not cool by her. Oh yeah, there was a โyou people love fried chickenโ quip thrown in for good measureโagain, allegedly.
When confronted about the behavior, Draytonโs suit claims that Habba dismissed the idea that she was racist because of her own background.
Specifically, during the conversation, defendant Alina Habba repeatedly stated the following:
a) It was โunacceptable to herโ that Plaintiff NaโSyia Drayton believed that her (Habbaโs) workplace behavior was inappropriate, offensive and racially insensitive;
b) That she could not possibly be racist because โI am a fucking minority myself;โ
c) That it was impossible for her to be racist because โIโm not whiteโ and because โI love all peopleโ;
d) That she loved Plaintiff NaโSyia Drayton;
e) โIโm not white. I used to be bullied because I am Arab;โ
f) That her comments about Letitia James, Esq. were not meant for you [Drayton];
Bold and italics compliments of Draytonโs legal team. That lettered list continues through โkโ.
The Root reached out to Habba Madaio & Associates for comment but hasnโt gotten a response yet.
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