Alina Habba Faced Big Accusations From Trump's Former Golf Club Employee
Workplace drama can be rough, but as former Trump National Golf Club employee Alice Bianco learned, it can always get worse. After facing sexual harassment by her superior at the Bedminster golf club, Bianco alleges that she struck up a friendship with a woman whom she believed manipulated her into signing an NDA about the inappropriate activity. The woman in question? Alina Habba, Donald Trump's attorney.
Bianco filed her lawsuit in November 2023, with the defendant listed as the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, where Habba first met Donald Trump. The main players in the suit are Pavel Melichar, the manager accused of sexually harassing Bianco, and Habba, whom the suit charges with "grooming" Bianco to remain silent about her mistreatment so that Habba could form a better relationship with Trump.
"This is something I've worked on for my whole career," Bianco's lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, informed Politico. "It's giving [Bianco] her voice back. It's outrageous to be victimized and then be told you can't talk about it."
Alina Habba and Alice Bianco connected thanks to a scathing letter
According to Alice Bianco's lawsuit, she faced multiple counts of sexual harassment from her manager, Pavel Melichar, throughout her time working at Trump National Golf Club. The former server alleges that Melichar gave her inappropriately short skirts as work uniforms, forcibly kissed her, and even asked Bianco to have sex with him on threat of termination. After she rejected each of his many advances, Bianco claims that Melichar punished her with "unfair job assignments and allowing his henchmen to abuse her and steal her tips."
Melichar's alleged inappropriate treatment toward many of his female employees prompted Bianco and a co-worker to draft a letter, which her colleague confirmed she would deliver to a personal staff member of Donald Trump himself. The letter was dated July 19, 2021. Shortly after it was sent, a Trump Human Resources Officer contacted Bianco, who immediately hired legal counsel. On July 28, 2021, Bianco claims that Alina Habba approached her to discuss the incident for the first time. The lawsuit states Habba said she "wanted to help" Bianco.
After their initial meeting, during which Bianco states Habba pressured her to fire her legal representation at the time, the employee and lawyer connected over the phone. They met several more times over the next month. During that time, Bianco alleges Habba convinced her to sign an NDA with a $1,000-a-day penalty clause and to accept a settlement from the golf club, which the lawsuit describes as a "paltry sum."
Bianco accused Trump's high-profile attorney of unethical conduct
Alice Bianco signed the settlement agreement in mid-August 2021 with the encouragement of Alina Habba. According to the lawsuit, Habba reassured Bianco her settlement reward would be tax-free. When Bianco contacted Habba in April 2022 about a tax-related question, Habba allegedly replied, "I can't technically give u legal advice." The plaintiff's legal team argues that everything Habba had done up to that point, including urging Bianco to sign the settlement in the first place, was legal advice.
The suit, which was filed after Donald Trump appointed Habba as one of his head attorneys, accuses her of violating several codes of professional conduct. Bianco's legal team is suing the Bedminster golf club for the right to exit the NDA, keep her original settlement amount, reimburse Bianco for her legal fees, and report Habba to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics. In response, Habba clarified to Politico in an email, "I always conduct myself ethically and acted no differently in this circumstance."
Further, in a statement provided to CNN by Bianco's legal counsel, the former Trump employee said, "I didn't know my rights. I didn't know Alina wasn't supposed to discuss a case with me without my lawyer. I didn't know New Jersey had banned non-disclosure agreements for victims of sexual harassment. All I knew was that the person claiming to be my friend and advisor threw me in the trash as soon as she pressured me into silence."