Noelle Dunphy (left) during a May 2023 interview on her allegations (Inside Edition/screengrab) , (right) former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and girlfriend Maria Ryan attend the 9/11 Memorial Service in 2022 (Photo by Gabriele Holtermann/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
Rudy Giuliani, while angrily talking about his canceled WABC radio show, urged Dr. Maria Ryan to sue the station for hostile work conditions despite being warned about spreading 2020 election conspiracy theories. ousted “Uncovering the Truth” co-host and girlfriend, to sue the station for creating a difficult work environment for women. But there’s just one problem: Giuliani himself faces a hostile work environment lawsuit brought by his former director of business development.
During a late Friday livestream on YouTube, Giuliani criticized WABC for firing both him and Ryan and accused the station of fostering a difficult work environment for women.
“Unfortunately, she’s also been fired. But she’s also been treated horribly as a woman, treated horribly as a person, treated horribly as a professional. And I don’t know that she wasn’t going to leave anyway because Chad Lopez, the president of the station, creates a very hostile work environment — many women have left,” Giuliani said. “One’s on Newsmax, another’s independent. We’ll see if they’ll speak up.”
Minutes later, Giuliani repeated the hostile workplace allegations.
“Dr. Maria’s been treated like horribly. If she doesn’t sue you and that creep of yours Chad Lopez for a very, very hostile work environment, she’s crazy,” he said. “And if she doesn’t get a couple other women to do it with her I’d be surprised.”
“How many have you fired or left you?” Giuliani asked.
Giuliani does have some experience with hostile work environment litigation — as a defendant. Recall that Noelle Dunphy in May 2023 filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Giuliani, claiming that he sexually abused her and subjected her to a difficult work environment while not paying her for her work.
The suit alleged that Giuliani was recorded saying things like “You’re a f—ing slut,” “You’re my b—-,” “whore,” “I’m gonna get my c— in there,” “I want to own you officially. Legally. With a document,” “I can’t control myself. I lose control. I think of you all the time. I’m unable to control it. I’m addicted,” and “I can’t think about you without getting hard.”
Dunphy also accused Giuliani of having a drinking problem that explained his “vile commentary.”
“Constantly drunk, morning, noon, and night. Dysfunctional in public and private. Alcohol played a constant role in his life, fueling bizarre behavior, bad judgment, impulsiveness, and vile commentary,” the lawsuit said.
When Giuliani vehemently denied the sexual assault allegation, he said that he and Dunphy had a consensual relationship over a period of months in 2019. He accused her of being a “seasoned professional at accusing former romantic partners of misdeeds in civil litigation.”
“I was in a relationship with Ms. Dunphy for a few months in early 2019. I ended the relationship because she kept trying to contact me. I found out she was banned from several luxury hotels and had two previous cases, but didn't report them to the police. I am looking forward to being completely proven innocent,” he said. said.
Setting the Dunphy case aside, the 2020 election and Giuliani’s insistence that it was stolen from Donald Trump has resulted in extensive personal consequences, both in civil and criminal matters. as reported by Law&Crime. Besides facing election-related charges in Georgia and Arizona, Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York after losing a defamation case by default in Washington, D.C., which resulted in a $146 million judgment in favor of Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss.
Even as recently as Friday, Freeman and Moss told urged Giuliani’s bankruptcy judge to permanently prevent him from repeating the defamatory statements for which he has been held liable and any substantially similar statements accusing the mother and daughter of trying to steal the election from Trump.
“Mr. Giuliani’s persistence in making these statements after all that has transpired, along with his refusal to agree to stop making such statements, makes it clear that he intends to continue targeting defamation and harassment,” the filing said. “There is an overwhelming, ongoing, and imminent risk that Mr. Giuliani will cause significant damage to the reputation and emotions of the Plaintiffs. This needs to stop.”
Giuliani’s creditors, frustrated by the slow progress of the proceedings and Giuliani’s latest attempt to appeal the Freeman judgment, also commented last week on the situation.
“The Committee finds itself on a hamster wheel trying to hold the Debtor accountable for his repeated and continuous wrongdoings,” the bankruptcy lawyers said.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Freeman and Moss complained that Giuliani has not been deterred by the defamation judgment and has continued to use his internet platform to repeat false and defamatory remarks about them.
“On April 11, 2024, after filing this case, and after being warned by this Court not to continue making defamatory statements, Rudy Giuliani livestreamed a video of himself addressing a crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma, across multiple platforms, including Twitter/X, YouTube, and Rumble. While sitting in a chair onstage, Mr. Giuliani discusses election night 2020 and Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss,” the filing said. “Despite having been found liable for approximately $148 million in damages as a result of his previous statements about these women, Mr. Giuliani again made false and defamatory remarks about them. Mr. Giuliani stated ‘I was sued by two women who were counting multiple ballots in Georgia, we have one of them on tape doing it.’ Mr. Giuliani went on and told the crowd, ‘I can show you [evidence] tonight of them counting the ballots four times, one two one two four times four time four times.'”
From WABC’s perspective, it appears that Giuliani’s potential permanent suspension and canceled show is solely about protecting the company from getting involved in the former NYC mayor’s legal troubles. simply what happens when on-air talent becomes more of a liability than an asset.
WABC owner John Catsimatidis reportedly said of Giuliani’s continued 2020 election talk despite warnings. “I had no choice but to suspend him.”
“What media company wouldn’t suspend him based on that?” he asked. “I said to him, you’re suspended, let’s sit down and talk on Monday, and then he went berserk on us.”
Giuliani continued his response to WABC and defense of Maria Ryan on Sunday, offering an apology for upsetting her by raising the hostile work environment allegations on her behalf.
Uncovering the Truth (E1): Sunday, May 12, 2024 https://t.co/eGv2tmFmVP
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) May 12, 2024
“She doesn’t want me to talk about it. So I will not talk about it. I will say nothing about Dr. Maria, she can speak for herself. Except I can say, for me — I’m not even going to say that. I’ll see if she wants me to say it. I have very, very strong views about the way they treated Dr. Maria. And I have very strong suspicions about the way women have been treated on that show,” Giuliani said. “But those are my own, and Dr. Maria can speak for herself. And I apologize to Dr. Maria who was upset that I was going to speak on her behalf. I have tremendous respect for her. She’s the reason our show was successful.”