Court hearing could mark end of Strauss-Kahn civil lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund chief of sexually assaulting her are set to appear in a New York state court on Monday and may announce a settlement to her civil lawsuit against him.

The court date comes less than two weeks after a source familiar with the matter said the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement to settle the case.

The source said details of the settlement are not likely to be made public at the hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) in New York State Supreme Court in the New York City borough of The Bronx.

The agreement would end a legal saga that began when Nafissatou Diallo, 33, told police that Strauss-Kahn attacked her in his suite at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan on May 14, 2011.

The scandal forced Strauss-Kahn to resign his post as head of one of the world's most influential international finance organizations and wrecked his hopes of running for president in his native France.

Prosecutors initially expressed confidence in the evidence, including DNA that showed a sexual encounter. But they dropped the case in August 2011 after developing concerns about Diallo's credibility, including what they said were inconsistencies in her account of what happened immediately following the incident.

She filed the lawsuit just weeks before the charges were dismissed, claiming he forced her to perform oral sex and caused her physical and emotional damage.

Strauss-Kahn, 63, filed a countersuit earlier this year against Diallo for defamation. He has said the sexual encounter was consensual but has admitted it was a 'moral error.'

The resolution of the civil case brings Strauss-Kahn closer to ending his legal troubles, which have persisted since his return to France.

Strauss-Kahn is awaiting a decision by a French court on his request to halt an inquiry to determine whether he should stand trial on pimping charges related to sex parties attended by him and by prostitutes.

Strauss-Kahn has quietly begun to resume his career in recent months, delivering speeches at private conferences and setting up a consulting firm in Paris.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Dan Burns and Philip Barbara)



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