A federal judge has declined to dismiss a civil rights lawsuit against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for failing to take action against former Assemblyman Vito Lopez for repeated acts of sexual harassment against female staffers.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, Southern District Judge Analisa Torres (See Profile) denied the speaker’s motion to dismiss the action brought by staffers Victoria Burhans and Chloe Rivera, who claim Silver “created a de facto policy or custom in which sexual harassment by senior officials … was tolerated or condoned.”