(CNN) A Manhattan judge has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to be deposed in a defamation lawsuit filed by a former "Apprentice" contestant who has accused Trump of sexual assault.

Trump's legal team had argued that a stay is necessary "given the novel and important Constitutional issues involved," the "special considerations due" their previous requests to dismiss the case, and to prevent "irreparable harm."

But Associate Justice Dianne Renwick, who sits on the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, denied Trump's effort to dismiss or delay the case, but agreed to fast-track a Trump motion to appeal a March decision that allowed the case to go forward.

"We are pleased that Justice Renwick of the First Department put the President's motion for reargument or leave to appeal on an expedited schedule," a spokesperson at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, which is representing Trump in the case, said.

The former contestant, Summer Zervos, has accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in 2007. She claims Trump kissed her twice on the lips during a lunch meeting in his New York City office, and on a separate occasion in Beverly Hills, she alleges he kissed her aggressively and touched her breast.

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