SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK

Index No. 101616-17

Plaintiff, SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

v.

DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC.

Defendant.

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT:

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.

You hereby are summoned and required to serve upon the undersigned attorneys
for plaintiff an answer to the supplemental complaint in this action within twenty days
after service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty days after
service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of
New York. In case of your failure to answer, judgment will be taken against you by
default for the relief demanded in the complaint.

The basis of the venue designated is CPLR §503, the location of plaintiff’s
principal office.

Dated: January 28, 2021

BOWLES & JOHNSON PLLC

___________________________
David K. Bowles
14 Wall Street, 20th Floor
New York, New York 10005
T: (212) 390-8842
F: (866) 844-8305
E: [email protected]
 SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF NEW YORK

JESSICA DENSON Index No. 101616-17

Plaintiff, VERIFIED SUPPLEMENTAL

DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC.

Defendant.

THIS SUPPLEMENTAL COMPLAINT is brought by the Plaintiff, Jessica Denson

(“Ms. Denson” or “Plaintiff”) against the Defendant, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. (the

“Trump Campaign” or “Defendant”), pursuant to CPLR 3025(b).

A. Introduction

1. Plaintiff adopts and incorporates herein by reference all allegations of her Amended

Complaint in this action, authorized to be filed by Decision and Order of the Court (Bluth, JSC)

dated on or about August 7, 2018. The Amended Complaint (as did Ms. Denson’s original

Complaint before it, filed on November 14, 2017) alleges, inter alia, that the Trump Campaign

discriminated against, harassed and retaliated against Ms. Denson in violation of the New York

City Human Rights Law, NYC Admin. Code §8-101, et seq. (“NYCHRL”), and engaged in

tortious conduct against her.

2. Supplementation of the Complaint is now required for Ms. Denson to assert a

separate and expanded complaint for retaliation in violation of NYCHRL. The retaliation

consists mainly of the Campaign’s unlawful pursuit of arbitration proceedings against Ms.

Denson – as a direct, retaliatory response to the filing of this NYCHRL action – for allegedly
violating a non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreement (“NDA”) by filing it. The

Campaign’s demand for arbitration admits as much by identifying the filing of this action as the

arbitration’s sole impetus.

3. The Trump Campaign obtained awards against Ms. Denson in its NDA arbitration

(the “Awards”) and obtained a Judgment on the Awards in an amount in excess of $50,000.00

(the “Judgment”). The Campaign then continued the retaliation against Ms. Denson through

heavy handed judgment enforcement activities including multiple subpoenas and restraining

notices. The Campaign even went so far as restraining Ms. Denson’s attorneys’ escrow accounts

prefatory to seizing funds she had raised to support her litigation efforts against the Trump

Campaign’s unlawful conduct.

4. By Decision and Order of February 6, 2020, the New York Supreme Court,

Appellate Division, First Department (the “Appellate Division”), vindicated Ms. Denson’s

position that the Trump Campaign had used the NDA arbitration to retaliate against her. The

Appellate Division unanimously vacated the Awards and the Judgment, finding that the

arbitrator had “improperly punished plaintiff for availing herself of a judicial forum.”

5. The Trump Campaign’s relentless persecution of Ms. Denson with its unlawfully

motivated arbitration and judgment enforcement activities imposed extreme emotional upset and

terror on Ms. Denson for over two years after she filed this NYCHRL action. The Campaign’s

brute intimidation tactics forced her into a defensive posture for having the temerity to bring

such a case; threated her with financial ruin; attempted to silence her on matters of vital public

concern; hampered her efforts to secure legal counsel; undermined her ability to seek or engage

in income-producing work; delayed her ability to pursue her NYCHRL claims on the merits and

obtain a remedy for the discrimination; and caused her eventual counsel to expend hundreds of

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hours of effort to cause the retaliatory Awards and Judgment to be vacated.

6. Supplementation of the Amended Complaint in this fashion causes no surprise or

prejudice to the Trump Campaign. Ms. Denson’s Complaint and Amended Complaint already

allege retaliation for Ms. Denson’s opposition to unlawful discriminatory practices. Moreover,

multiple papers filed by Ms. Denson with the Court over the course of this action have

articulated her position that the Campaign’s pursuit of the arbitration and enforcement of the now

vacated Awards and Judgment unlawfully retaliated against her in violation of NYCHRL. Now

that the Appellate Division has vindicated Ms. Denson’s position, this formal supplementation of

the Amended Complaint ensues.

B. The Protected Activity and the Unlawful Retaliation

7. Ms. Denson’s original Complaint in this action, and her Amended Complaint, both

allege unlawful discrimination and retaliation by the Campaign against Ms. Denson in violation

of NYCHRL. These filings are quintessential protected activity under NYCHRL. NYCHRL

expressly prohibits retaliation against Ms. Denson for making such filings.

8. Plaintiff verified the Complaint on November 10, 2017.

9. Plaintiff filed the Complaint on November 14, 2017.

10. On or about December 20, 2017, in direct response to Ms. Denson’s filing of the

Complaint, the Campaign brought an expressly retaliatory NDA arbitration to punish Ms.

Denson for bringing judicial proceedings to enforce her right to be free of a discriminatory and

hostile workplace.

11. In its arbitration demand, the Campaign stated that Plaintiff “breached her

obligations [under the Plaintiff NDA] . . . in connection with a lawsuit she filed against [the

Campaign] in New York Supreme Court” (emphasis added).

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 12. On December 12, 2018, the arbitrator in the NDA arbitration issued a final award of

$49,507.64.

13. On or about June 12, 2019, following denial of motions by Ms. Denson to vacate the

Awards and to reargue that motion, the Campaign made a motion in this action to confirm the

Awards. Notably, the Campaign initially did not cross-move for confirmation of the Awards in

this Court when Ms. Denson moved to vacate; instead, it started a wasteful parallel proceeding

for confirmation in federal court, forcing Ms. Denson to brief the issues twice; and then it

brought yet another motion to confirm in this Court months later. On July 8, 2019, the court in

the State Court Action confirmed the Awards and at the Trump Campaign’s behest and entered

the Judgment. The federal court then dismissed the parallel proceeding as moot.

14. Eager to press its advantage even while Ms. Denson appealed from the Judgment,

the Trump Campaign immediately began attempts to enforce the Awards and Judgment against

Plaintiff.

15. Such attempts included multiple subpoenas, information demands, and restraining

orders, including restraining orders upon the escrow accounts of Plaintiff’s attorneys.

16. Plaintiff appealed to the Appellate Division from the denial of her motion to vacate

the Awards and from the Judgment.

17. On February 6, 2020, the Appellate Division unanimously reversed and vacated the

Awards and the Judgment in their entirety, on the grounds that the arbitrator exceeded his

authority and that the Awards violate public policy (the “Appellate Decision”).

18. The Appellate Decision vindicates Ms. Denson’s position that the Trump Campaign

unlawfully retaliated against her by bringing NDA arbitration proceedings based on her filing of

this action, stating that “the arbitrator improperly punished plaintiff for availing herself of a

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judicial forum.”

19. Plaintiff therefore states the following additional cause of action:

RETALIATION IN VIOLATION OF THE NYCHRL

20. Plaintiff incorporates all preceding paragraphs by reference.

21. It is a violation of Section 8-107(7) of the NYCHRL for an employer to retaliate

against an individual, including a former employee, because the individual has opposed any

practice forbidden under that law.

22. Defendant willfully, intentionally and contumaciously violated Section 8-107(7) of

the NYCHRL by filing and pursuing the NDA arbitration and vigorously enforcing the

Judgment, even while Plaintiff appealed, for the stated purpose of punishing Ms. Denson for

filing this NYCHRL action.

23. Plaintiff suffered grievous injury as a result of the Trump Campaign’s unlawful

action, on top of the injuries she already had suffered as a result of the Campaign’s sex

discrimination, harassment and tortious conduct detailed in the Amended Complaint, including

severe emotional distress, pain and suffering; and interference with her ability to work.

24. Defendant engaged in the above described retaliation with willful or wanton

negligence, or recklessness, or a conscious disregard of the rights of Ms. Denson or conduct so

reckless as to amount to such disregard. They are therefore liable for a substantial award of

punitive damages to Ms. Denson.

WHEREFORE, in supplement to all other relief claimed in her Amended Complaint,

Plaintiff prays for relief as follows:

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 A. A judgment in Plaintiff’s favor on all of Plaintiff’s claims including, without

limitation, backpay, lost earnings, and compensatory damages for emotional harm;

B. Punitive damages;

C. Reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees incurred in pursuit of this action, and

D. Such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Dated: January 28, 2021

BOWLES & JOHNSON, PLLC

_____________________________
David K. Bowles
14 Wall Street, 20th Floor
New York, New York 10005
Tel. (212) 390-8842
Fax (866) 844-8305
Email: [email protected]

THE LAW OFFICE OF

_____________________________
For Maury B. Josephson
2831 Bay Drive
Merrick, New York 11566
Tel. (516) 343-0090
Fax (516) 977-1315
Email: [email protected]

Attorneys for the Plaintiff

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TO:
LAROCCA HORNIK ROSEN
GREENBERG & BLAHA LLP
40 Wall Street, 32nd Floor
New York, New York 10005
Attn: Lawrence S. Rosen
Patrick McPartland

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Virginia