LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 14:  Summer Zervos, a former candidate on The Apprentice season five, who is accusing Donald Trump of inappropriate sexual conduct, speaks to the press with her attorney Gloria Allred October 14, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.  This is the first time the accuser has spoken publicly about the alleged incident.  (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Analyst: Trump should worry about Zervos case
02:45 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

A lawyer for President Donald Trump has begun the process of appealing last month’s decision by a New York judge to allow a defamation case brought by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos to proceed.

The lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, filed the notice of appeal in New York County Supreme Court on Sunday. Kasowitz signaled his desire to appeal last month.

“We believe the court’s well-reasoned decision will be upheld, and look forward to proving Ms. Zervos’ claim,” Zervos’ attorney, Mariann Meier Wang, said in a statement Monday.

Kasowitz is also expected later Monday to file a request to stay the case pending appeal – which would temporarily suspend the case until the appeal is decided – and Wang will file paperwork opposing the stay by April 10, according to the stipulation document filed with the court.

Zervos has alleged that Trump kissed her twice on the lips during a lunch meeting in his New York City office more than a decade ago, and alleges he kissed her aggressively and touched her breast on a separate occasion in Beverly Hills.

Trump has repeatedly denied Zervos’ claims.

On the same day that Zervos held a news conference to make her allegations public, Trump responded in a statement that was widely reported and appeared on his campaign website, “To be clear, I never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago. That is not who I am as a person and it is not how I’ve conducted my life.”

He repeated his denials in campaign rallies and at presidential debates and even retweeted a tweet that included a picture of Zervos and the words, “This is all yet another hoax.”

Trump’s lawyers had filed a motion to dismiss the defamation case, arguing during a December 2017 hearing that a president has immunity from such lawsuits in state courts and that the case would conflict with his official duties, arguments that were rejected by New York Supreme Court Judge Jennifer Schecter.

According to an agreement filed on Monday between Kasowitz and Wang, the appeal will not be heard until September.