Which civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault or sexual misconduct have been filed against donald trump and how were they resolved?
Executive summary
Two high‑profile civil actions alleging sexual assault or sexual misconduct against Donald J. Trump reached jury verdicts and settlements, while several others were dismissed or settled; the most consequential is E. Jean Carroll’s pair of lawsuits that together produced roughly $88.3 million in damages that remain under appeal [1]. Other suits, including Summer Zervos’s defamation claim tied to her assault allegation and a 1997 suit by Jill Harth (Houraney), ended by withdrawal or settlement, and multiple earlier criminal‑style claims were dismissed [2] [3].
1. E. Jean Carroll — two lawsuits, jury findings, and multimillion‑dollar awards
E. Jean Carroll sued Trump first for defamation in 2019 after publicly accusing him of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid‑1990s and later added claims; a Manhattan jury in a civil case found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded damages, and a subsequent related trial produced a separate $83.3 million award — the two suits together resulted in roughly $88.3 million in damages that have been appealed [1] [4]. Federal courts have allowed Carroll to amend claims and admitted evidence including testimony from other women and a 2005 recording under rules permitting other‑acts evidence in sexual‑assault civil litigation, and an appeals court has at least upheld the earlier $5 million award while the larger post‑trial order has been the subject of ongoing appellate proceedings [5] [6] [7].
2. Summer Zervos — defamation case tied to an assault allegation that proceeded and then stalled
Former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos sued Trump for defamation in January 2017 after she publicly accused him of groping and unwanted kissing, and New York courts allowed parts of her suit to proceed after appeals; the litigation reached a stage where Trump was ordered to answer questions under oath, but Zervos ultimately withdrew from the case before Trump testified, leaving the claim unresolved by a jury [2].
3. Jill Harth (Houraney) — a 1997 sexual‑harassment suit that ended in settlement
Jill Harth (identified in reporting also as Houraney) filed a high‑value sexual‑harassment lawsuit in 1997 alleging groping and aggressive sexual conduct; that suit was later withdrawn after she reached a settlement with Trump for an undisclosed amount, while she has continued to say the assault occurred [3] [2].
4. “Katie Johnson”/Jane Doe rape claims linked to Jeffrey Epstein — dismissed
An anonymous plaintiff using the pseudonym “Katie Johnson” brought a 2016 federal suit in California, later refiled as Jane Doe in New York, alleging Trump and Jeffrey Epstein raped her when she was 13 at Epstein’s Manhattan home in 1994; those complaints were dismissed by courts [3].
5. Broader tally, legal patterns and contested narratives
Reporting and compilations contend that Trump has been accused by many women over decades—sources cite as many as 25 accusers for a range of misconduct claims—but civil outcomes are mixed: one accuser (Carroll) prevailed in civil court with substantial damages, others settled or withdrew, and some cases were dismissed [3] [2]. Trump has repeatedly denied allegations and mounted appeals and defenses in court, and his legal teams have challenged evidentiary rulings and sought to narrow claims, framing litigation as politically motivated; conversely, plaintiffs’ lawyers and supporters point to jury findings, admitted corroborative evidence, and statutory changes (like New York’s Adult Survivors Act) that enabled revived civil claims [7] [5] [1].
6. What the record does and does not show
The public record in the provided reporting documents verdicts, settlements, dismissals, and active appeals but does not exhaustively adjudicate every named allegation against Trump; reporting establishes that Carroll’s cases produced the only civil liability confirmed by juries in federal court in the materials provided, while other suits ended in settlement, withdrawal, or dismissal [1] [2] [3]. Where factual assertions are not covered in the cited reporting, this account does not assert their truth or falsity.