Who Is Summer Zervos, Latest Trump Sexual Assault Accuser? Lawsuit Comes Days Before President-Elect's Inauguration

A formal lawsuit alleging sexual assault against President-elect Donald Trump was filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference, Summer Zervos, a former contestant on Trump's reality television show "The Apprentice," and her lawyer Gloria Allred accused Trump of defamatory statements toward those who accused him of "unwanted sexual touching."

"This lawsuit seeks to make Donald Trump accountable for the damages he's caused Miss Zervos," Allred said.

Allred, a civil rights attorney, previously appeared with Zervos to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct. Last year, Zervos tearfully accused Trump of kissing and touching her without her consent in 2007, according to People Magazine. Trump denied the allegations and threatened to sue Zervos for defamation after the election, referring to the accusations as "made-up events that never happened" and "totally false."

Zervos said Tuesday she wanted to give Trump an "opportunity to retract false statements" made about her and other women who have come forward. Allred said Zervos would dismiss the lawsuit entirely if Trump admitted he was at fault for calling a Zervos a liar.

Zervos, who is from Huntington Beach, California, appeared on season 5 of NBC's "The Apprentice," which aired in 2006. Zervos alleged the unwanted sexual contact occurred first when she met Trump at his office at the Trump Tower in New York City and once again at a Beverly Hills hotel during what she thought was a private business meeting.

"Mr. Trump, when I met you I was so impressed with your talents that I wanted to be like you. I wanted a job with your organization," Zervos said in an October statement. "Instead, you treated me as though I was an object to be hit upon."

Allred has previously claimed Trump's sexual assault cases were overshadowed by other news regarding the election, including FBI Director James Comey's announcement that authorities were reopening an investigation into former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of private email servers. After Trump won the election last year, Allred hinted that there would be more to come from the women's testimonies.

Allred, who previously represented women in high-profile cases such as plaintiffs claiming to have contracted HIV from actor Charlie Sheen in 2015, has been a vocal critic of Trump. In October, she responded to Trump's suggestion that she was a "third-rate lawyer" by saying Trump was "nothing but a fourth-rate politician and a fifth-rate human" bound to lose the 2016 election.

Accusations of sexual assault directed toward Trump date back decades and include his first wife, Ivanka, who claimed it was "not in the criminal sense" as well as at least a dozen more instances of alleged sexual misconduct made public since the billionaire real estate tycoon entered politics. Women's rights groups have planned demonstrations nationwide Friday to coincide with Trump's inauguration.