Judge gives go-ahead for Ashley Judd to sue Harvey Weinstein for sexual harassment
Actress Ashley Judd alleges that Harvey Weinstein tried to make her watch him shower and give him a massage at a Beverly Hills hotel in the mid ‘90s, and on Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that Judd can sue the disgraced former producer under a California sexual harassment law.
The sexual harassment portion of Judd’s lawsuit, filed in 2018 and put on hold in the midst of Weinstein’s criminal trial, was initially dismissed by a judge in a lower court because Weinstein was not technically her employer at the time. However, because Weinstein held such a position of power in her industry — Judd says that Weinstein badmouthed her and hurt her career after she turned down his advances — there is a state law that could apply to her situation.
“Weinstein was uniquely situated to exercise coercive power or leverage over Judd, who was a young actor at the beginning of her career at the time of the alleged harassment,” wrote U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia in the opinion. “Moreover, given Weinstein’s highly influential and ‘unavoidable’ presence in the film industry, the relationship was one that would have been difficult to terminate ‘without tangible hardship’ to Judd, whose livelihood as an actor depended on being cast for roles.”
Weinstein has been convicted of rape and sexual assault against two women but has denied all of the multitudes of sexual harassment claims against him. Previously, in response to Judd’s lawsuit, his attorney argued that the producer did not harm her career but promoted it by casting her in two films.
Judd, however, filed her lawsuit when Peter Jackson said in an interview that Weinstein had warned him against casting Judd in the “Lord of the Rings” films. Her attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., welcomed the judge’s ruling in a statement.
“This is an important victory not only for Ms. Judd but for all victims of sexual harassment in professional relationships,” he said. “The court correctly holds that California law forbids sexual harassment and retaliation by film producers and others in powerful positions, even outside the employment context, and we look forward to pursuing this claim against Mr Weinstein at trial.”
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