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Dominique Strauss-Kahn is filing a $1 million countersuit against the New York City hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault, saying she seriously damaged his reputation with what he calls a bogus allegation.
The disgraced French politician and former head of the IMF said in court papers filed on Monday that the Guinean-born
Nafissatou Diallo made a "malicious and wanton false accusation" when she said he assaulted her one year ago after she arrived to clean his hotel suite.
Prosecutors later dropped charges amid concerns about Diallo's credibility.
She then opened a civil suit for undisclosed damages against the former French politician.
Strauss-Kahn, 63, says whatever happened was consensual, and he has denied doing anything violent.
A judge this month rebuked Strauss-Kahn's claim that he had diplomatic immunity.
Diallo's lawyers, Kenneth W. Thompson called the countersuit a "desperate ploy."
One of Strauss-Kahn's attorneys said the countersuit should come as no surprise to Diallo.
"She is directly responsible for his being arrested, imprisoned and subjected to extraordinary pain, anguish and expense," said William W. Taylor in a statement.
He is now seeking compensation for the loss of his job, defamation and false imprisonment. His claim also demands further unspecified punitive damages as well as his legal fees.
Diallo, says Strauss-Kahn chased her down, tried to yank down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex.
Strauss-Kahn was arrested, and spent several days behind bars and three months on house arrest before prosecutors dropped the criminal case, saying Diallo had lied about her background and changed her account of what she did after leaving Strauss-Kahn's hotel room.
Strauss-Kahn also faces preliminary charges of being involved in a hotel prostitution ring in France.
As of last week, French investigators also were studying accusations that Strauss-Kahn may have been involved in a rape during a sex party in a Washington hotel in 2010.
Separately, a French writer accused him last year of having tried to rape her during a 2003 interview, an accusation prosecutors said was too old to try. Strauss-Kahn denies all the allegations.
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