--- description: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has denied a new sexual harassment accusation leveled against him by a one-time female dinner guest title: Clarence Thomas Denies New Groping Accusation image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaeb9fdc9d98a208/6988abd80b72e3b78c6eb886/clarence-thomas-groping-allegation.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Supreme Court](/tag/supreme-court/) ## Supreme Court Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Denies Groping Accusation  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:26 AM CUTPublished: Oct 27, 2016 5:54 PM CUT  Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks at the memorial service for former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Mayflower Hotel March 1, 2016 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks at the memorial service for former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Mayflower Hotel March 1, 2016 in Washington, DC.Susan Walsh/Pool—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:26 AM CUTPublished: Oct 27, 2016 5:54 PM CUT Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has denied a sexual assault accusation leveled against him by a one-time female dinner guest, according to a report published Thursday. The allegation, reported in [the _National Law Journal_](http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/10/27/young-scholar-now-lawyer-says-clarence-thomas-groped-her-in-1999/?slreturn=20160927121322 "undefined"), comes nearly three weeks after Moira Smith wrote on Facebook that Thomas had grabbed her buttocks multiple times during a 1999 dinner party at the justice’s home. Smith, now general counsel to Enstar Natural Gas Company, said she was one of several Truman scholar invited to Thomas’ home that evening and was setting the table when the alleged unwanted contact occurred. She was 23 at the time. Thomas rejected the accusation as “preposterous” in a statement provided to the _National Law Journal_ by a Supreme Court spokesperson. “This claim is preposterous and it never happened,” Thomas said. Smith’s three former housemates as well as her now ex-husband recalled her telling them of the incident at the time, the _Journal_ reports. Thomas, 68, famously faced scrutiny during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991, when [Anita Hill](http://fortune.com/2016/10/19/anita-hill-id-do-it-all-over-again/ "undefined") said that Thomas had sexually harassed her. Many women have come forward to share stories of sexual assault and harassment in recent weeks as similar [allegations](http://fortune.com/2016/10/23/trump-sexual-assault-11th-accuser/ "undefined") against Donald Trump have dominated the news. [Read more at National Law Journal](http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/10/27/young-scholar-now-lawyer-says-clarence-thomas-groped-her-in-1999/?slreturn=20160927121322 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4548119/clarence-thomas-sexual-harassment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4548119/clarence-thomas-sexual-harassment/"},"headline":"Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Denies Groping Accusation","datePublished":"2016-10-27T17:54:21.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T01:26:12.000Z","description":"Accuser Moira Smith was 23 at the time","url":"https://time.com/4548119/clarence-thomas-sexual-harassment/","keywords":["Supreme Court"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaeb9fdc9d98a208/6988abd80b72e3b78c6eb886/clarence-thomas-groping-allegation.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteaeb9fdc9d98a208/6988abd80b72e3b78c6eb886/clarence-thomas-groping-allegation.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Clarence Thomas Groping Allegation","caption":"Clarence Thomas Groping Allegation","creditText":"Susan Walsh/Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4548119/clarence-thomas-sexual-harassment/","name":"Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Denies Groping Accusation"}}]}] ```