A lawsuit accusing a former Congressional candidate and a member of his campaign staff of sexual misconduct in 2023 was dropped earlier this month following a settlement out of court, according to Harris County District Clerk’s Office records.
Details of the settlement between Pervez Agwan, a Democratic primary candidate in the 2024 Congressional District 18 race, and Maha Chishtey, a junior staffer with the campaign, were not made public. An order of non-suit was signed by 55th Civil District Court Judge Lotosha Lewis Payne on May 6, according to court records.
In a statement about the settlement of the case, Agwan maintained that the allegations against him and the campaign are false.
“I am grateful to the voters in TX-07 for giving me the opportunity to serve them,” Agwan said. “It was truly the honor and privilege of my lifetime to run for office to represent Houston in the U.S. Congress.”
Agwan declined to answer questions about the terms of the settlement. He also said he has no plans to run for elected office in the future.
An attorney for Chishtey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chishtey accused Agwan of overseeing a pattern of sexual misconduct among male senior staffers working for the campaign that played out over several months in the second half of 2023. Chishtey quit her job that October after she said Agwan tried to kiss her when they were alone in the campaign headquarters after work and he prevented her from leaving the office when she rebuffed his advances.
The Houston Landing broke the news of the lawsuit in December 2023. Agwan denied the allegations against him and the campaign at the time.
Chishtey never pursued criminal charges against Agwan for the incident. Sugar Land Police Department did investigate an allegation of doxxing against Agwan after a website with Chishtey’s name, address and phone number was created shortly after news of the lawsuit broke, although no criminal charges have been filed.
A Landing investigation of the allegations published in January 2024 found a mass resignation from the Agwan campaign of mostly female staff in late October and early November. The campaign lost endorsements following the reporting, and Agwan was eventually defeated in the Mach Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, receiving a little over 25% of the vote.
Since then, the lawsuit has dragged out in civil court. A trial date was set for June 10 of this year prior to the case being dropped.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
