Elmont Online

NEW YORK -- A hotel maid who accuses ex-International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault sued him Monday over what she calls a "violent and sadistic" attack in an upscale suite that left her life "in shambles."

Lawyers for the maid, Guinean immigrant Nafissatou Diallo, wrote in the lawsuit that Strauss-Kahn "intentionally, brutally and violently sexually assaulted Ms. Diallo and in the process humiliated, degraded, violated and robbed Ms. Diallo of her dignity as a woman."

The lawyers, Kenneth Thompson and Douglas Wigdor, promised in court papers that if the case goes to trial, they will introduce other instances when Strauss-Kahn sexually attacked women in hotel rooms and apartments around the world, assaulted employees who were coerced into complying with sexual demands or accosted women with inappropriate sexual remarks and attempts to get them to perform sexual acts.

They said the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, was brought "to redress the violent and sadistic attack by defendant Strauss-Kahn on Nafissatou Diallo when he sexually assaulted" her on May 14 at the Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan.

The lawsuit says Strauss-Kahn injured Diallo's shoulder, bruised her vagina, tore her pantyhose and violently grabbed the back of her head during the attack.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in the Bronx, accuses Strauss-Kahn of acting like a common criminal afterward, fleeing the hotel so quickly that he left behind traces of his semen, along with bloody tissues.

"In his haste to flee the scene of a crime, he rushed out of the hotel with toothpaste smeared on the outside of his mouth and was looking over his shoulders," the lawsuit says.

The attack has left Diallo physically and psychologically harmed, with permanent damage done to her professional and personal reputations along with severe mental anguish and emotional distress from which she may never fully recover, the lawsuit says.

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn said the maid's lawsuit has no merit and their client will fight it vigorously.

"We have maintained from the beginning that the motivation of Mr. Thompson and his client was to make money," attorneys William W. Taylor and Benjamin Brafman said. "The filing of this lawsuit ends any doubt on that question."Strauss-Kahn, who's 65 and married, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted rape. He's due back in criminal court Aug. 23.