Mendes & Mount LLP and a former paralegal settled her suit alleging the law firm let a client who sexually harassed her more than 20 years earlier target her again after she rejoined the firm, New York federal courts records show.
Therese Pesce alleged Mark Hicks’ abuse first occurred in 1989 while she was working in the insurance law firm’s London office. The harassment included Hicks twice breaking into her firm-provided apartment, where on one occasion he watched her sleep before stealing her passport, Pesce said.
She left London and the law firm as a result, but the firm recruited her back in 2013, she said. Hicks suddenly appeared in her office however in late 2015 and tried to kiss her, the lawsuit said.
The renewed harassment persisted and she soon faced a backlash for complaining to Mendes & Mount about Hicks and the firm’s ineffective response to the abuse, according to her suit.
The U.S. District of the Southern District of New York partly dismissed the suit in November, but found Pesce could go forward with sexual harassment and retaliation claims under federal, state, and New York City laws.
Judge J. Paul Oetken entered an order Wednesday dismissing the remaining claims after Pesce and the firm informed him they had “reached a settlement in principle of this case.”
Terms of the settlement weren’t included in the court record, and attorneys for Pesce and Mendes didn’t immediately respond Thursday to Bloomberg Law’s requests for details.
Derek Smith Law Group PLLC represented Pesce. Jackson Lewis PC represented Mendes & Mount.
The case is Pesce v. Mendes & Mount, LLP, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:19-cv-04922, case dismissed 4/28/21.
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