Billionaire chief government and chairman Marc Lasry is suing ex-employee Gina Strum, alleging she carried on a decade-long marketing campaign of harassment, lies, and blackmail and is now attempting to illicitly siphon tens of millions from Lasry and his agency.
The swimsuit—filed collectively together with his sister Sonia Gardner and the agency they cofounded collectively, Avenue Capital—lists a litany of alleged grievances in opposition to Strum, together with obsessive and inappropriate texts to Lasry that he repeatedly rebuffed, at the same time as they tried to placate her with telephone calls, conferences, and emails. Lasry and Gardner alleged they suffered by way of it as a result of they feared Strum would perform her threats to take down each Lasry and the $12 billion world funding agency he constructed for 30 years alongside his sibling, the grievance states. For years, Strum allegedly alternated between praising the agency when she felt she was on the receiving finish of consideration and cash, after which menacing them when that stopped.
The grievance alleges that Strum just lately escalated her threats, saying she would make it “really, really ugly” for Lasry and Avenue Capital until she was paid $50 million, and would destroy Lasry’s fame personally. The swimsuit additionally contains alleged traces from textual content messages and emails Strum despatched to Lasry through the years that the grievance described as “personal, obsessive, and simply inappropriate.” The swimsuit alleges Strum additionally despatched images and movies of herself to Lasry in low-cut tops, in search of his response.
As an illustration, Strum allegedly wrote: “U wonder why I love you so much.” After which, “Did you forget about me? My life doesn’t really work without you. Stop punishing me.” Plus, “You are a lovebug to me.” Additionally: “And one more thought- if I had to go through therapy and all this shit just to talk to you. You could at least kiss me. We would know everything then.”
The grievance alleges Strum would praise Lasry’s look, together with a black turtleneck that triggered her to begin “sweating.” She additionally allegedly advised him he appeared “cute,” and allegedly up to date him when she went to be checked out for “Girly bits.”
One other alleges Strum wrote she was “def lonely and flirting with you.” The grievance states that Lasry apologized to Strum for being lonely, and mentioned he could possibly be a buddy to her, “but it can never be more than that.”
The swimsuit says Strum was employed by Avenue Capital from 2009 to 2013 however labored as a marketing consultant now and again within the years that adopted. Strum’s LinkedIn lists her employment with Avenue Capital as managing director from 2009 to 2017. Avenue Capital’s specialty is distressed property, which incorporates investing in actual property debt. Lasry has an estimated web price of virtually $2 billion, per Forbes. Unrelatedly, he’s a longtime democratic donor, in keeping with marketing campaign finance knowledge from the Federal Election Fee.
The lawsuit states Strum’s exit from Avenue Capital got here in 2013, when she was given a severance package deal (of an undisclosed quantity) after threatening to make false accusations. The agency concluded it to be the “best interest to pay Ms. Strum,” the swimsuit states, and it was agreed Strum might seek the advice of on future offers.
Nevertheless, the lawsuit claims Strum “became erratic and abusive toward Mr. Lasry, eventually renewing her threats to harm him and Avenue.” Her alleged texts and emails, in keeping with the lawsuit, included Strum writing that her life doesn’t work with out him; that she hates when he ignores her, and that she is aware of she’s a ache and loves him. In others, she allegedly calls herself loopy however lovable; calls Lasry babe; tells him she misses him; says she hopes he thinks of her.
Daniel Kaiser, an lawyer for Strum, advised Bloomberg that Lasry’s lawsuit was “blatantly fabricated and retaliatory, a continuation of his attempt to control and harass Ms. Strum.” Kaiser and Strum didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s requests for remark.
“When Ms. Strum was given attention and paid money, she withdrew her threats,” the lawsuit reads. “When she felt that she was not getting sufficient attention or her funds were depleted, she would renew her threats and malicious behavior.”
Final 12 months, Strum allegedly wished to seek the advice of on a deal after bringing a enterprise proposal to the agency, however Avenue Capital countered, suggesting a special construction for the venture itself. Strum then allegedly “renewed her extortionate threats, repeatedly telling Mr. Lasry in meetings, on phone calls, and in texts, that he was abusive because he would not move forward with her proposed structure, that he lied to her and gaslighted her, and that she was talking to attorneys about filing a lawsuit against him and Avenue,” in keeping with the grievance. Strum allegedly threatened to disclose private details about Gardner, too.
Her subsequent messages to Lasry allegedly modified: she mentioned she was disgusted with him; that he by no means had any regard for her profession; and that she wouldn’t be abused by him. One textual content allegedly learn: “This is gonna be a movie – how one woman stood up to abuse and collapsed one of the biggest shops on the street,” per the lawsuit.
That’s across the time she allegedly demanded $50 million, which led to the lawsuit, it states.
A spokesperson for Avenue Capital shared the next assertion with Fortune: “Ms. Strum, a former Avenue employee who departed the firm in 2013, has repeatedly threatened to smear the reputations of Mr. Lasry, Avenue, and Ms. Gardner, with the stated and malicious intent to destroy their business. This lawsuit aims to bring that to an end.”
