The sexual harassment suit filed against Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, has been dismissed by a judge in Los Angeles. The suit was filed by his former business partner (no, not Bill) Abbie Phillips. The case was dismissed with prejudice, which means it cannot be retried. Phillips claimed she had been forced out of Storyopolis Investment, which she was managing for Allen, after she resisted a sexual advance made by the billionaire. In the suit, she was claiming damages for lost earnings, lost employment, emotional distress and punitive damages, having quit the company in April 1997. The case was filed on 2 April 1998. Allen followed this with a statement refuting the charge. He claimed that Phillips had left the company after he confronted her about misappropriating business money. He then filed papers for the case to be dismissed. The case was actually dismissed in February this year, but given the reluctance of either party to make the result public, it has taken until now to come to light. ®