A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Ashley Judd can sue Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment.
A three-judge panel of the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the actress should be allowed to pursue both parts of her lawsuit against Weinstein. A lower court judge dismissed her sexual harassment allegations, but left her defamation claim intact.
Judd was one of the first people to publicly accuse Weinstein. She filed the lawsuit in 2018, alleging that at a meeting at a Beverly Hills hotel in late 1996 or early 1997, the producer tried to force her to watch him shower and massage him, then smeared it in Hollywood as a ‘nightmare’ to work after she rejected him.
The embarrassed producer Weinstein, behind Oscar winners Shakespeare in Love and Chicago, was jailed for 23 years in March after being convicted of rape. He is detained at the Wende Maximum Security Correctional Facility, Buffalo, New York.
Judd’s attorneys had sued Weinstein under a California law that prohibits sexual harassment of people, other than employers, with professional power, including teachers and homeowners.
The court agreed that the law could apply to situations like the one Judd faced, when she was dealing with Weinstein but was not working for him. The case is likely to go to trial early next year.
“Weinstein was in a unique position to exercise coercive power or influence over Judd, who was a young actor early in his career at the time of the alleged harassment,” wrote US District Judge Mary Murguia in the ruling.
“ Furthermore, given Weinstein’s highly influential and ‘inevitable’ presence in the film industry, the relationship would have been difficult to end ‘without tangible difficulties’ for Judd, whose livelihood as an actor depended on being cast in the roles. ”
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Ashley Judd, pictured in 2018, can sue Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment. A three-judge panel of the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the actress should be allowed to pursue both parts of her lawsuit against Weinstein.
The embarrassed producer Weinstein, behind Oscar winners Shakespeare in Love and Chicago, was jailed for 23 years in March after being convicted of rape. He is detained at the Wende Maximum Security Correctional Facility, Buffalo, New York. He is portrayed at his February trial
Judd’s attorneys made this explicit when he filed the lawsuit that he was suing in part to expand the use of the law to protect against predatory relationships in Hollywood, and praised the Ninth Circuit’s decision on Wednesday.
“This is an important victory not only for Ms. Judd but for all victims of sexual harassment in professional relationships,” Judd’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said in a statement.
“The court correctly holds that California law prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation by film producers and others in powerful positions, including outside of the workplace context, and we look forward to continuing this claim against Mr. Weinstein at trial “
Harvey Weinstein and Ashley Judd pictured in 1997. Judd filed the lawsuit in 2018, alleging that at a meeting at a Beverly Hills hotel in late 1996 or early 1997, the producer attempted to force her to watch him shower and massage him, then he anointed her in Hollywood as a “nightmare” to work after she turned him down
An email seeking comment from Weinstein’s attorney, Phyllis Kupferman, was not immediately returned. Kupferman previously said that Weinstein did not harm Judd’s career, but promoted it, approving of her role in two of her films.
The ruling comes two weeks after a New York judge rejected a $ 19 million settlement between Weinstein and many of the women who sue him for sexual misconduct. Judd was not involved in the proposed settlement.
The 52-year-old star of ‘Kiss The Girls’ and ‘Double Jeopardy’ was one of the women who told her Weinstein stories to the New York Times and New Yorker in 2017, making the #MeToo movement a global phenomenon.
Harvey Weinstein enters court on February 24, 2020 in New York City
She sued Weinstein the following year after director Peter Jackson said in an interview that Weinstein had warned her not to work with Judd when considering her for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies.
The lawsuit had been put on hold until the completion of the Weinstein criminal trial in New York, where the 68-year-old producer was convicted of rape and sexual assault against two women. He faces similar charges in Los Angeles.
Weinstein has repeatedly denied engaging in any non-consensual sexual activity.
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