Legendary Singer Smokey Robinson, 85, Hit With Sexual Battery Lawsuit
These acts allegedly included repeated rapes at Robinson's various homes, the claimants' lawyer said during a press conference on Tuesday.
The accusers allege sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and gender violence, according to the outlet, and that Robinson touched their 'entire bodies, including their vaginas, breasts, legs, abdomen, lips, and face' without consent. The founder and frontman of the Motown group The Miracles' wife Frances Gladney is also reportedly named in the suit, which was submitted to the the Los Angeles Superior Court.
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 04: Singer Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson arrive at the 34th Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center Hall of States on December 4, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage) / Paul Morigi/WireImage
Robinson's accusers say Gladney failed to act to prevent the alleged abuses, despite 'having full knowledge of his prior acts of sexual misconduct' and 'having settled cases with other women that suffered and experienced similar sexual assaults perpetuated by him.'
KTLA reports the suit says, 'Plaintiffs explicitly told Defendant Robinson on numerous occasions that they were not interested in his advances and objected to his forceful, physical, sexual, and harmful conduct.' They claim Gladney 'perpetuated a hostile work environment by regularly screaming at them separately in a hostile manner, using ethnically pejorative words and language.'
EVANSTON, IL - SEPTEMBER 1968: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles perform at Evanston High School in Evanston, Illinois September 1968 () /Each of the women has chosen to remain anonymous and are referred to as 'Jane Does' in the suit, which also alleges they were not paid for overtime or for traveling with the couple. Each woman is also of Hispanic descent, according to their attorney, and claims they did not seek help because they feared for their immigration status and 'familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame and humiliation.'
The women are seeking $50 million in damages to make them whole from the 'economic damages, as well as severe emotional and physical harm, humiliation, distress, embarrassment, and anxiety as a result of Robinson's conduct.'
On Tuesday, the women's attorney said of the amount, 'Given the gravity of Mr. Robinsons' despicable and reprehensible misconduct, that is further detailed in the complaint, this amount is clearly warranted. No amount of money can compensate these women for what Mr. Robinson subjected them to.'
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