Arthur ‘Artie’ Rabin, a well-known figure in the apparel industry and a Democratic supporter who previously held a stake in the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, faces a lawsuit for assault and battery. The accusation involves performing oral sex on a woman who was allegedly unable to consent due to her impaired state.

Brenda Ramirez, the plaintiff, has taken legal action against Rabin by filing a civil suit in New York’s Supreme Court on Monday. The lawsuit accuses the octogenarian Rabin of engaging in ‘violent sexual acts’ while Ramirez was drifting in and out of consciousness in his hotel suite.

According to documents acquired by Daily Mail, the two individuals initially met on a plane several years prior and maintained a friendly, non-romantic relationship until December 27, 2024. It was on this date that Ramirez accepted Rabin’s invitation to dinner at the W Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Upon her arrival, Rabin is said to have poured champagne for Ramirez but did not serve any for himself.

‘Ms. Ramirez alone drank the glass of champagne, noticing that it tasted flat,’ read the filing. ‘Almost immediately, Ms. Ramirez felt sleepy and disoriented. She closed her eyes for what felt like a moment, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself naked in bed, with Mr. Rabin performing oral sex on her. Ms. Ramirez could not move or speak, slipping in and out of consciousness.’

The filing accuses Rabin of assault and battery, as well as infliction of emotional distress, but does not specifically allege that he drugged Ramirez. She is seeking damages and a declaratory judgement in the case.

Rabin’s attorney, Larry Hutcher of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, denied all of Ramirez’s allegations during a phone call with Daily Mail on Monday afternoon.

‘Mr. Rabin is shocked and dismayed that Brenda Ramirez is seeking to destroy Mr. Rabin’s well-deserved impeccable reputation by making the scurrilous allegations contained in the complaint,’ Hutcher told Daily Mail. ‘These were made solely for financial gain. Mr. Rabin vigorously denies that he acted improperly or in any wrongful manner at any time whatsoever.

‘Miss Ramirez voluntarily showed up at Mr. Rabin’s hotel room and anything that occurred was consensual. Mr. Rabin looks forward to vindicating his rights as we are confident that we will be able to do.’

Despite being more than four decades his junior, Ramirez struck up a friendship with Rabin aboard a commercial flight from New York to Miami in January of 2022, according to the filing. The two began speaking by phone and soon Rabin was sending the single mother wire transfers and gifts for her son.

All gifts were unsolicited, according to her attorneys.

Ramirez claimed she was invited by Rabin to have dinner at the W, where he told her the hotel provided them with dessert and champagne. 

As claimed in the filing, Ramirez became unable to speak and lost consciousness after drinking the champagne. She ultimately awoke to find Rabin performing oral sex on her naked body before she passed out again, according to the lawsuit.

‘When Ms. Ramirez finally woke up, it was around 4 a.m., and she felt extremely sick,’ read the filing. ‘She ran to the bathroom and vomited excessively, including all over her naked body. Having no memory of how she became undressed or how she ended up in the bed, and remembering the one brief moment of consciousness during which Mr. Rabin performed a sex act on her, she panicked.’

Ramirez’s attorneys claimed in the filing that she frantically tried to clean herself before fleeing the hotel suite. 

‘When she turned on the shower, Mr. Rabin began shouting towards the bathroom and asking what was going on,’ read the filing. ‘Ms. Ramirez repeatedly told him “I have to go,” and proceeded to grab her clothes and purse and run out of the suite as quickly as she could.’

Ramirez claimed in the filing that Rabin repeatedly tried calling her as she made her way to the car. She said she told him she was ‘fine and that she was sorry she got sick,’ according to the lawsuit.

‘In response, Mr. Rabin said, “You disappointed me” and “You passed out on me,”‘ the filing continued. ‘He went on to blame Ms. Ramirez for how she was feeling by saying, “You’re cut off. You can’t drink around me anymore.”‘

Ramirez’s attorneys claimed she blocked Rabin’s phone numbers to prevent any contact and the two have not spoken since May.

‘Mr. Rabin spent years fostering Ms. Ramirez’s trust, weaponizing his wealth and influence to camouflage his manipulation as the support of a caring friend,’ Ramirez’s attorney, Meredith A. Firetog of Wigdor LLP, said in a statement. 

‘Last year, he violated that trust in despicable fashion when he sexually assaulted Ms. Ramirez while she was incapacitated and unable to consent. No amount of business success gives someone permission to exploit another’s vulnerabilities.’

The co-founder of Wear Me Apparel LLC, Rabin and his late wife Selma were vital fundraisers for Hillary Clinton’s doomed 2016 Presidential campaign. 

Since then, he has sued Citibank over 29 million in lost rewards points. The two parties are currently in arbitration, according to federal court documents obtained by Daily Mail. 

Rabin sold his stake in the Nets several years ago, according to online reports. Daily Mail has reached out to the team for an exact date.