Smokey Robinson claims in a brand new court docket submitting that the previous housekeepers suing him for rape try to slow-walk the lawsuit to realize most leverage for an extortionate settlement payout, together with by dealing a monetary blow to the Motown legend’s ongoing tour.
Attorneys for the 85-year-old singer made this argument in a Thursday (June 12) movement to require the deposition of one of many 4 nameless former housekeepers who allege he forced them to have sex at his Los Angeles-area house dozens of occasions over almost twenty years. Robinson adamantly denies the claims and has countersued the women for extortion, defamation and elder abuse.
Robinson’s legal professional, Christopher Frost, says within the new court docket submitting that the housekeepers are refusing to take part in proof assortment. He claims that the ladies’s lawyer, John Harris, allegedly knowledgeable him that he needs to delay all discovery till they’ve litigated a movement to strike Robinson’s counterclaims, a prolonged course of that would take months.
Frost claims the housekeepers, who he says demanded $100 million from Robinson and his spouse Frances earlier than suing them each in Could, are doing in order a tactic to maximise settlement leverage. In accordance with the movement, this technique is geared toward chopping into earnings from Robinson’s ongoing worldwide tour celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his album A Quiet Storm.
“Plaintiffs have successfully conceded that their intention was to file a salacious lawsuit, do nothing to prosecute it, neuter the Robinsons’ capability to defend themselves, and let the lawsuit linger publicly whereas the Robinsons should stay daily beneath the unfair specter of public opinion and whereas Mr. Robinson’s tour is negatively affected,” Frost writes.
“This performs into plaintiffs and cross-defendants’ technique to actual leverage on Mr. and Ms. Robinson,” Frost provides. “The longer Mr. Robinson’s livelihood is harmed, the extra stress there’s for the Robinsons to present in to plaintiffs’ and cross-defendants’ extortionate calls for.”
Frost is asking for a court docket order requiring one of many 4 housekeepers, recognized in court docket filings as “Jane Doe 2,” to sit down for a deposition at his Los Angeles legislation workplace inside two weeks of the movement being heard. Frost says the ladies also needs to foot the invoice for almost $5,000 in authorized charges the Robinsons have run up bringing this movement.
“If plaintiffs and cross-defendants will not be sanctioned for his or her abusive conduct, they are going to anticipate that they will proceed this conduct throughout the pendency of this case, which is able to solely create extra delays and extra movement follow,” writes Frost. “The utilization of this technique should be nipped within the bud.”
The housekeepers’ legal professionals launched an announcement on Friday (June 13) calling Robinson’s movement to compel a “calculated effort to misuse the invention course of in a way that’s each retaliatory and chilling.”
“By singling out Jane Doe 2 for a compelled deposition at this early stage, the defendant is partaking in a broader technique of harassment and coercion — an try and retraumatize a survivor of sexual violence beneath the guise of lawful course of,” mentioned attorneys John Harris and Herbert Hayden. “This movement will not be about truth-seeking; it’s about exerting energy. It needs to be acknowledged for what it’s: a clear try to relax participation on this case and deter different survivors from coming ahead. We stay steadfast in defending her rights and can maintain the Robinsons accountable for any effort to subvert these rights by abusive and vexatious litigation techniques.”
Along with the civil lawsuit, the previous Robinson housekeepers have additionally filed a police report towards the singer. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division is now investigating the ladies’s sexual assault claims.
This story was up to date on June 13 at 11:22 p.m. ET so as to add an announcement from the plaintiffs’ legal professionals.