A former Avenue Capital employee involved in a legal battle with billionaire boss Marc Lasry claims she was offered $5 million to “settle the situation without a lawyer.”

• A former Avenue Capital fundraiser claims Marc Lasry offered her a $5 million settlement in May.
• Earlier this month, Lasry filed a lawsuit against Gina Strahm, alleging that she was trying to extort $50 million.

In May, Billionaire Avenue Capital co-founder Marc Lasry offered a $5 million settlement to a former employee who accused him of years of sexual harassment, according to new legal documents filed by Gina Strahm’s lawyers.

Strahm, a former Avenue fundraiser who was accused in a civil suit of blackmailing Lasry and Avenue out of $50 million, said in her latest court papers that Lesry wanted to “settle the situation without a lawyer” after she was presented with evidence that were eventually brought to trial. the lawsuit she filed last week.

Strahm’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss Lasry’s original lawsuit, which he filed Oct. 18. The motion was filed along with a brief that included texts between the parties as evidence showing how Lasry encouraged Strahm not to retain lawyers. forward.

“Plaintiff Lasry went so far as to offer to pay Defendant’s fees and mediation costs in exchange for Defendant refraining from filing a lawsuit exposing Plaintiff Lasry’s egregious abuses,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in state court. New York. , reads.

Lasry’s statement said Strahm “seeks to bring public attention to the continuation of his malicious threats.” The statement also said Avenue “will discuss these matters in court rather than in the media.”

It’s the latest development in a tumultuous battle between the well-known Lasry, a former co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and megadonor to Democratic campaigns, and his former employee.

Lasry and Avenue filed suit for the first time lawsuit against Strum, claiming she tried to extort $50 million from the firm to stop it from doing “really terrible” things to her. The lawsuit includes text messages and emails from Strahm that Lasry’s legal team says demonstrate Strahm’s obsession with her billionaire boss.

One of the messages reads: “Have you forgotten about me? My life wouldn’t work out without you. Stop punishing me.”

A few days after Lasry filed the lawsuit, Strahm responded with her own lawsuit: alleging years of sexual harassment and Lasry’s unwanted touching. There was no mention of the $5 million offer in her lawsuit, although S.C. Hoeffler, Strahm’s lawyer, said, “It was important to clearly record the evidence in this case regarding Mark Lasry’s offer to Gina Strahm.”

“He offered this money to control the process and ensure her silence,” Hoffler said in a statement.