What You Need to Know About the Harvey Weinstein Lawsuits

The accusations of sex crimes committed by Harvey Weinstein have come thick and fast over the last month. As of now, over 80 women have come forward accusing Weinstein of every degree of heinous sex crime imaginable. Some of these accusations are over decades old events while others are quite recent. As they have come to light, they have opened the floodgates for an enormous number of accusations revealing a pervasive atmosphere of sexual assault in Hollywood as more and more actors are called out for previous sexual assaults or for being complicit in such acts and doing nothing.

But, no accusations have matched the sheer numbers and disturbingly normalized pattern of what Weinstein is alleged to have done. An enormous number of women, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan, Lucia Stoller, Asia Argento, Ashley Judd, and many more, have accused Weinstein of sexual crimes ranging from sexual assault to rape.

The accusations all follow a similar pattern, Weinstein invited an actress or aspiring actress to a hotel room or similar isolated spot on the pretense of speaking about their career and then sexually propositioned them–often not taking no for an answer and threatening their career if they did not comply. Many of these women have cited Weinstein destroying careers as their reason for not immediately coming forward; others came forward but were not believed, berated, and no action was taken.

Weinstein allegedly used his enormous resources to hire people to conceal the acts, allegedly with the help of his company and Miramax. The most recent lawsuit against him includes allegations of Weinstein hiring lawyers, reporters, private investigators and more–often to the tune of over $100,000–to cover his tracks. The efforts were apparently quite in depth, false businesses and false names created to mislead victims into believing they were investing in their productions while they were gathering information and attempting to prevent publication of details regarding Weinstein’s attacks. An enormous amount of effort was put into discrediting victims.

While everything here is still allegations, there has been quite a bit of information released to support the notion that these attacks were a bit of an open secret in Hollywood. Weinstein himself admitted in a recorded NYPD sting operation in 2015 that he had groped a model. He described the behavior as something he is “used to.”

These allegations have sparked what will hopefully be a continuing change in the way sexual assault is treated in Hollywood. However, they have also given rise to a web of lawsuits brought both against and by Harvey Weinstein himself. Let’s look at some of these lawsuits including a recent class action against Weinstein, Miramax and The Weinstein Company, a recent lawsuit brought against The Weinstein Company by Weinstein himself, and the criminal investigations related to Weinstein.

Class Action Alleging Sexual Assault and More

Perhaps the largest suit against Harvey Weinstein was brought just a few weeks back. The suit is brought on behalf of an unnamed actress–going only by Jane Doe in the lawsuit–alleging that Weinstein acted against her career after she refused to show him her breasts while alone in a hotel room. The 59-page complaint also includes other similarly situated persons in the suit.

The suit alleges charges against Weinstein, and both The Weinstein Company and Miramax as knowing and complicit facilitators of Weinstein’s actions. There have been many instances over the year of interviews and memos indicating at least a passing knowledge of Weinstein’s sexual assaults Some of the women assaulted were brought to isolated meetings with Weinstein as part of agendas provided to them as part of Miramax productions.

Reports of Miramax contracts with Weinstein as recently as 2015 allegedly include specific terms that allow Weinstein to avoid internal punishment for treating somebody improperly under Miramax Code of Conduct if he pays all damages and fines out of pocket–along with liquidated damages which would increase for every instance. The lawsuit also argues that many of the attacks were done while Weinstein was acting within the scope of his duties for Miramax and the Weinstein Company.

The specific acts taken against Jane Doe in the case involve Weinstein demanding to see her breasts, then telling her that refusal would end her career. He then allegedly locked her in a dark stairwell where she was eventually released by a janitor.

The charges of the suit include 18 U.S.C. § 1961 RICO Act charges, the same types of charges originally created to combat mafia-style organized crime. The lawsuit basically alleges a concerted group effort to tamper with and intimidate victims and witnesses. They also allege a conspiracy to do the same, negligent supervision of Weinstein by Miramax and The Weinstein Company, civil battery charges, assault charges, and both negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

While many of the charges would normally be barred by the statute of limitations for these charges, the complaint argues the limitations do not apply because the full nature of the conspiracy between Weinstein, The Weinstein Company and Miramax was not known until the expose on the issue published by the New York Times on October 5th, 2017.

Other Suits Related to Weinstein’s Actions

This class action is just one of many brought against Weinstein, Miramax and The Weinstein Company. For instance, actress Dominique Huett has brought a $5M negligence suit against the Weinstein Company. Just recently, an anonymous Los Angeles actress sued over a rape as recent as just last year. These are just the tip of the iceberg, and we can likely anticipate much more in the future.

Weinstein Suing Weinstein Company

Weinstein has been doing some suing of his own–bringing a lawsuit against his own former company The Weinstein Company. Weinstein himself has been forced out of his company in light of the accusations against him. After this, Weinstein has sued his former company for under two separate causes of action–first for wrongful termination and second over the release of emails and documents to him.

The wrongful termination lawsuit is in arbitration currently and the exact details of the accusations are not fully public. The lawsuit over release of documents, however, has seen much more movement and a Delaware judge has already set a trial for January on the issue.

The lawsuit boils down to Weinstein alleging that the company is refusing to turn over emails and other documents that he claims will prove he is innocent of the accusations leveled against him.

A Delaware judge set a January trial for Harvey Weinstein’s effort to get the film production company he co-founded to turn over emails and other documents that he says will exonerate him of–or at least help defend him against–the accusations of sexual harassment. Weinstein apparently intends to produce emails which, according to sources associated with Weinstein, include evidence that accusers “enticed” him or thanked him for what happened.

It’s unclear whether any of this evidence exists and seems rather unlikely it would help him in the court of public opinion at this point. Weinstein’s suit has also acknowledged that the email may also show some level of complicity on the part of The Weinstein Company and Miramax. The Weinstein Company has responded with a request to dismiss the case outright in a recent answer to Weinstein’s complaint.

Criminal Action Against Weinstein

The action against Weinstein are not all civil actions. Both Los Angeles and New York have ongoing investigations into the actions of Harvey Weinstein–quite rightly considering the scope and seriousness of what he is accused of.

In Manhattan, the district attorney’s office has been investigating the accusations of actress Pas de la Huerta who has said that Weinstein raped her twice in her own apartment in 2010. The investigations are still ongoing, so details are still a bit sparse. However, you can expect to hear more on these criminal charges soon.

The Weinstein Company and Weinstein’s Response to the Allegations

Weinstein himself has consistently responded to all allegations with blanket denials of everything these 84 women have charged him with. The Weinstein Company has created as much distance between themselves and Harvey Weinstein as possible and, while there is certainly evidence suggesting they knew about Weinstein’s actions, the company has denied all knowledge and involvement. It’s also worth noting that many of the 80 plus claims here are too old to see litigation in court–if not too old to reach the court of public opinion.

The Weinstein Company has hired a couple of law firms to prepare themselves for potential bankruptcy proceedings. This would limit their financial liability moving forward.

If, or more likely once, criminal charges are brought against Weinstein it may impact the civil actions against him. Just as Bill Cosby asserted due process rights to put civil lawsuits against him on hold during his criminal proceedings, Weinstein may do the same. The argument being that the civil proceedings may prejudice a criminal jury.

The allegations against Weinstein have shone the light on a horrifying aspect of our society and opened the door for an enormous number of similar allegations. Regardless of the outcome of the cases against him, this is an important step. However, it’s hard to imagine the lawsuits discussed here are anything but the tip of the iceberg for Weinstein. We’ll see more action against him in the future, likely the near future.