An ex-TCW [profile] PM just fired the latest salvo in a month-old legal battle over alleged sexual harassment.

Last month Sara Tirschwell sued TCW, Jess Ravich (her former boss), and TCW chief David Lippman, accusing Ravich of pressuring her into sex as a "quid pro quo" for support and claiming that TCW fired her under a manufactured pretext after she reported Ravich to HR. Yesterday TCW, Lippman, and Ravich officially responded, via court filings, by denying that Ravich and Tirschwell had sex while she was affiliated with TCW, by claiming that Tirschwell was fired for "repeat violation of company compliance policies and procedures," and by claiming that Tirschwell didn't raise her initial sexual harassment complaint to HR until after finding out in advance that her contract wouldn't be renewed.

A spokesperson for TCW told MFWire that the firm is not commenting beyond the filings. The case is Sara Tirschwell v. TCW Group Inc. Et Al, 15077-2018 in the Supreme Court of the state of New York for the County of New York.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Tirschwell responded by likening the latest filings to "a smear campaign" and framing the suit in the context of the broader #MeToo campaign that started last year.

Here's the full response from Tirschwell's spokesperson:

TCW's allegations are unsurprising given that TCW promoted defendant Jess Ravitch to its board of directors before conducting an independent investigation of Ms. Tirschwell's complaint. This is certainly not the first time that men in bathrobes have issued such initial denials. The TCW defendants' allegations speak to why women in this industry are afraid to come forward. They know that what awaits them will be a smear campaign intended to silence them and destroy their careers. Ms. Tirschwell looks forward to presenting her case to a jury.

 

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