A New York judge has rejected a motion by former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault.
The ruling will allow the civil suit to go forward.
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon rejected Mr Strauss-Kahn's argument that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity at the time of the 14 May encounter with Nafissatou Diallo.
Calling it a "Hail Mary" attempt to secure immunity from prosecution, Justice McKeon ruled that Mr Strauss-Kahn's voluntary resignation from his post days after his arrest on criminal charges put an end to any immunity he might have enjoyed.
Ms Diallo, a maid at the Sofitel Hotel in midtown Manhattan, accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex, while Mr Strauss-Kahn has said the incident was consensual.
The scandal, which made headlines around the world, scuttled Mr Strauss-Kahn's expected bid for the French presidency.
New York prosecutors dropped the criminal case against him in August, saying they were no longer convinced of Ms Diallo's credibility after she made several changes in her account of what she did in the moments following the incident.
In his decision, Justice McKeon agreed with Ms Diallo's lawyers that Mr Strauss-Kahn's failure to assert immunity at the time of his criminal indictment undermined his claim.
One of Ms Diallo's lawyers said in a statement that they were "extremely pleased" with the ruling.
"We have said all along that Strauss Kahn's desperate plea for immunity was a tactic designed to delay these proceedings and we now look forward to holding him accountable for the brutal sexual assault that he committed," Douglas Wigdor said.
