Smokey Robinson performs onstage in the course of the sixty fifth GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Enviornment on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photograph by Kevin Winter/Getty Photos for The Recording Academy )
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4 girls are accusing R&B legend Smokey Robinson of sexual battery, rape and different offenses in a grievance for damages filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court docket Tuesday.
The grievance says the 4, unnamed girls have been housekeepers of the Robinsons on the time of the alleged misconduct. Robinson’s spouse Frances Robinson can also be named.
The grievance alleges that Jane Doe 1, who was a housekeeper for the Robinsons from January 2023 to February 2024, was compelled to resign because of Smokey Robinson’s “repeated sexual assaults and sexual harassment in opposition to her.” The opposite girls are additionally alleging a number of sexual assaults, stretching again to a minimum of 2007.
The plaintiffs are represented by the legislation agency Harris & Hayden. The grievance says the ladies are additionally accusing Smokey Robinson of false imprisonment, emotional misery and gender violence. Allegations in opposition to each embody emotional misery and unlawful working circumstances.
NPR has not but acquired a response from Robinson’s representatives.
At a press convention Tuesday afternoon, lawyer John Harris known as Smokey Robinson a “serial assaulter” and stated the ladies stored quiet concerning the alleged misconduct out of concern, as a result of they have been low-wage staff “dwelling paycheck to paycheck” and have been “intimidated” by Robinson’s celeb. He additionally stated the ladies have been threatened, however didn’t specify the character of the threats. The ladies are additionally being represented by Herbert Hayden.
The girls’s attorneys are searching for a complete of $50 million in damages. They are saying the ladies haven’t but filed police studies.
As the previous frontman of The Miracles, Robinson, who’s 85, is accountable for a few of Motown’s largest hits together with “The Tears of a Clown” and “I Second That Emotion.” Robinson finally grew to become Motown Data’ vp.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.