Louis Lehot, former DLA Piper partner

Louis Lehot, the former DLA Piper partner who was dismissed from the firm earlier this month after being accused of sexual assault by partner Vanina Guerrero, has accused Guerrero of "exploiting the #MeToo movement to cover up her own issues".

Yesterday (October 21), Lehot made his first public statement since the accusations against him surfaced. He denied Guerrero's claims and provided more than 40 pages of purported emails between the two lawyers showing friendly exchanges during the period of time in which Guerrero has alleged she was assaulted repeatedly.

Later in the day it emerged that a second woman, a former human resources employee at DLA Piper, has also lodged a complaint against Lehot.

She claims that she was fired early this year after complaining that she was "physically afraid" to be near Lehot.

Lawyers at Wigdor LLP, the same firm that represented DLA Piper partner Vanina Guerrero in raising allegations about Lehot, yesterday lodged a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on her behalf.

According to a letter attached to the former employee's EEOC charge, she claims that Lehot threatened her after she refused to fire an administrative assistant he wanted terminated. The former HR employee further claims that she was fired after she complained to firm management that she feared being near Lehot or left alone with him.

In an open letter published earlier this month, Guerrero accused Lehot of sexually assaulting her multiple times in the months after he recruited her to join the firm. She also called on DLA Piper to release her from her mandatory arbitration agreement with the firm.

Lehot was fired from the firm several days later.

But less than a week after Lehot was pushed out, DLA Piper announced that it had placed Guerrero on administrative leave. The firm said that while investigating her claims against Lehot, it had found that another person had accused Guerrero of inappropriate behaviour.

"It's good to see the truth is beginning to come out. I did not assault or harass Vanina Guerrero and she knows it," Lehot said in his statement.

"I acknowledge poor judgement in developing an emotional relationship with Vanina Guerrero. I deeply regret the pain this has caused my family, colleagues, clients and friends," Lehot continued. "This isn't victim-blaming or victim-shaming. She's not a victim here."

According to Lehot, he agreed to leave the firm earlier this month because he acknowledged that he should not have developed an emotional relationship with the junior partner. He said he fully cooperated with DLA Piper's investigation, and alleged that Guerrero refused to cooperate.

Lehot made reference to numerous emails between himself and Guerrero, around the times of the alleged assaults, in which they coordinated travel arrangements and Guerrero requested a seat next to him on flights. The emails also showed discussion of personal matters, like an exchange of advice on which bedsheets Lehot should buy.

Reached for comment yesterday, Wigdor LLP partner Jeanne Christensen, who represents Guerrero, said, "By this, Louis Lehot is saying he's OK with litigating in open court and no secret arbitration."

Spokespeople for DLA Piper, reached on Monday, referred to the firm's previous statements on the matter.

Dan Packel contributed to this report.