A former secretary at Troutman Sanders sued the firm and ex-partner Gerald Francese on Monday, claiming she endured more than a year of sexual harassment and misconduct by Francese and was ultimately terminated after she reported him to human resources.

Jessica Correa said Francese, one of the partners she was assigned to assist after starting at Troutman in January 2017, started calling her “cutie” and staring at her breasts a month after she joined the firm. His misconduct allegedly escalated to unwanted kisses, forced dinner dates and questions about her sexual habits, leaving Correa with anxiety and “psychological stress,” said her lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Correa claims she reported the conduct to human resources after confiding in an associate in April 2018 but could not attend a meeting with the firm’s human resources director because of the stress she was under.

Her suit seeks over $1 million in damages for claims of sexual harassment and retaliation under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act, the New York City Human Rights Law and a similar state law.

Francese, who is now at Locke Lord in New York, and a representative for Atlanta-based Troutman Sanders didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.

According to the lawsuit, Correa started at Troutman without incident. It was only after Francese came back from a vacation in February 2017 that he began making comments that left Correa, a single mom, feeling “uncomfortable, vulnerable, and sexualized,” the suit claimed. On the day of a dinner at an expensive steakhouse, the suit said, Francese patted Correa’s upper thigh when they were behind his desk.

The misconduct escalated, Correa claimed, after she confided to Francese that she was having financial troubles, and he sought to become her “sugar daddy.” Correa said he tried to get her to join him on dinner dates and vacations, which she largely rejected, but said she was pressured into a dinner where she continued to express displeasure with Francese’s advances.

Correa said she once confronted him via text after he made references to oral sex during one of their conversations. He responded with “???” to try to avoid creating a paper trail, she alleged.

In April 2018, Correa said, she learned she would be denied an annual raise. She said it was because Francese made false complaints about her performance to human resources. That same month, she alleges, Francese kissed her on the lips during a lunch, which she said made her physically ill and vomit in a restroom.

She said she then reported the misconduct to human resources. She was “constructively discharged” on Aug. 20, 2018, said Correa, represented by Benjamin Dictor of Eisner & Dictor.