Lasry — the co-founder of Avenue Capital Group and a major fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris — allegedly forcibly kissed and groped Gina Strum, according to her complaint filed Wednesday in New York State court.

“Lasry sexually abused [Gina] Strum on a continuing basis during the course of her employment,” the lawsuit alleged.

Gina Strum alleges that Marc Lasry sexually abused her for years. Faith Jason Adrian

Strum, who worked in business development at Avenue from 2009 to 2013, also sued Lasry for discrimination and retaliation. The complaint includes discrimination claims against Lasry’s sister and Avenue co-founder Sonia Gardner.

Lasry and Avenue had filed a suit last Friday against Strum accusing her of demanding $50 million to keep her from spilling dirt on him and the firm.

“Ms. Strum’s desperate attempt to claim that Mr. Lasry acted inappropriately and sexually harassed her are completely not true,” an Avenue spokesman told The Post on Thursday.

“Avenue on October 18 filed a lawsuit against her for defamation. They refused to pay her extortionate demands. Her claims filed yesterday include further statements that are defamatory and false. Mr. Lasry, and Avenue will respond to Ms. Strum’s false defamatory statements and defend their reputations to the full extent of the law,” the rep added.

Daniel Kaiser, one of Strum’s lawyers, claimed Lasry filed his suit in a preemptive attempt to silence his client.

Marc Lasry is a prominent figure in hedge fund circles, the Democratic Party and the NBA. Sportico via Getty Images

The 65-year-old Lasry, who is married and has five kids, has claimed that Strum’s alleged threats began soon after she left the firm.

She received a severance package for an undisclosed sum and continued to work as a consultant for Avenue over the past decade, according to Lasry’s lawsuit.

Gina Strum was a public face for Lasry when raising funds. Will Ragozinno/BFA / Shutterstock

Strum’s countersuit alleges that Lasry began sexually harassing her soon after she was hired and continued through this year when she was a consultant for the firm.

“Lasry made it clear to Strum that he wanted both a romantic and sexual relationship with her, despite Lasry being married,” the complaint alleged.

Strum was “appalled” by Lasry’s request and immediately turned him down, her suit alleges.

But that allegedly didn’t dissuade Lasry, the former owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

“Throughout her employment, Lasry frequently forced Strum against her wishes and without her consent to hug Lasry so that he could press against her breasts and grope her,” the suit alleges.

Lasry painted a different picture in his lawsuit

He alleges that Strum sent him inappropriate emails and texts, including one saying, “You are a lovebug to me.”

The mogul has been raising money for Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris, including organizing a Zoom call in July to rally financial support among fellow Wall Street bigwigs.

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The Avenue Capital Group co-founder accused Gina Strum of threatening to make it “really, really, ugly” for Lasry and his company unless he forked over the money, according to the complaint, which was filed Friday in New York State court.

Strum was a senior vice president and then a senior managing director at Lasry’s Park Avenue firm from 2009 to 2013, according to public records.

Milwaukee Bucks Co-Owner Marc Lasry holding up the 2021 NBA Championship Trophy. NBAE via Getty Images

Lasry — the 65-year-old former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and a major Democratic fund-raiser for Vice President Kamala Harris — claimed in the lawsuit that Avenue gave Strum a severance package in 2013 after she threatened to make false accusations about the firm.

The company, which Lasry co-founded with his sister Sonia Gardner, also agreed to keep Strum on as a consultant if she could not find another job “rather than face undue fallout from a public report of false accusations,” according to the complaint.

However, her contact with Lasry over the past decade “veered towards the personal, obsessive and simply inappropriate,” the lawsuit alleged.

“Plaintiffs suffered through Ms. Strum’s conduct because they concluded that, if they did not, she would carry out her malicious threats to damage them,” the complaint claimed. “In retrospect, the decision to engage with Ms. Strum and accede to her demands was misplaced, as Ms. Strum was unable (or unwilling) to find another job and always returned to demand work and money from Avenue.”

Lasry’s former senior managing director allegedly called him a lovebug. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Strum — who got her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1999, according to her LinkedIn account — allegedly sent the married Lasry lurid emails and texts.

In one message, she wrote “Black and navy are your colors. I remember the first time I met you . . . You were in a black turtleneck. I started sweating,” according to the complaint.

In another, Strum allegedly said, “You are a lovebug to me.”

Lasry is a major Democratic fund-raiser and has long supported Kamala Harris. AP

Her lawyer Daniel Kaiser refuted the allegations, telling Bloomberg News the lawsuit was “blatantly fabricated and retaliatory, a continuation of his attempt to control and harass Ms. Strum.”

The Post reached out to Strum and Kaiser for comment.

During her stint at the firm, Strum would accompany Lasry to raise funds from pensions like Philadelphia’s and the New Hampshire Retirement Systems, according to public records.

Chelsea Clinton worked at Lasry’s firm from 2006 to 2009. Getty Images for Hearst

Strum started her own firm, Calamos Avenue Management in 2019, according to her LinkedIn account.

That same year, Strum and Avenue agreed she would be paid $750,000 for some consulting work, the complaint alleged. But after Strum was paid the final installments on that deal earlier this year, she “renewed her extortionate threats,” according to the lawsuit.

An Avenue spokesperson told The Post: “Ms. Strum … has repeatedly threatened to smear the reputations of Mr. Lasry, Avenue, and Ms. Gardner, with the stated and malicious intent to destroy their business. This lawsuit aims to bring that to an end.”

Avenue, which specializes in buying distressed assets, has $12 billion in assets under management.

The firm had famously hired Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of the former president and the former secretary of state, from 2006 to 2009.

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