US President Donald Trump is being sued by a former campaign staffer, Alva Johnson, for allegedly kissing her without her consent ahead of a rally in Florida on August 24, 2016.
Johnson alleges that Trump grabbed her hand and forcibly kissed her without consent on his way out of an RV before the rally in 2016.
The lawsuit, filed by the former Trump staffer, claims that the incident had several witnesses including then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, then-State Director Karen Giorno, and Regional Directors Earl "Tony" Ledbetter, Mitch Tyner and, Nick Corvino, according to The Washington Post.
The allegations have since been dismissed by the White House, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders calling Johnson's claim "absurd on its face". "This never happened and is directly contradicted by multiple highly credible eye witness accounts," Sanders stated.
Meanwhile, two of the witnesses in the lawsuit, namely Bondi and an unidentified campaign official, have denied seeing the alleged act in an interview with The Washington Post.
Johnson is further suing Trump over equal pay, claiming that she was given lesser pay for work due to her race and gender, reports CNN.
The ex-staffer's claims join a list of sexual misconduct allegations against Trump. However, the latest allegations take significance as Johnson is the first accuser to come forward while Trump is in office.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)