Accuser Sues Harvey Weinstein Under New York's Child Victims Act, Alleging Sexual Abuse
The Child Victims Act opened a one-year window, starting in August, for victims of child sex abuse to pursue civil claims against their alleged abusers or the institutions that allegedly harbored them.
December 19, 2019 at 03:27 PM
4 minute read
A woman who was 16 years old when she says Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her sued him in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday under New York's Child Victims Act, refusing to accept the proposed civil settlement offered to his accusers.
The Child Victims Act opened a one-year window, starting in August, for victims of child sex abuse to pursue civil claims against their alleged abusers or the institutions that allegedly harbored them.
Through her attorneys Douglas Wigdor and Kevin Mintzer, Kaja Sokola is suing Weinstein's brother Bob Weinstein along with Disney and Miramax.
In a statement, Sokola said she came to New York from Poland at 16 to try to become an actor, but while in New York, she said she was sexually abused by Harvey Weinstein.
"I originally filed my case under a pseudonym as part of a class action against Harvey Weinstein, his companies, and associates," she said in the statement. "But I cannot accept the proposed 'global settlement' as fair or just. There is no accountability for the perpetrators, insufficient compensation for all of the victims, and millions of dollars going to people that I believe enabled Weinstein."
The proposed $25 million settlement with dozens of Weinstein's accusers would not require the producer to admit wrongdoing or pay any money personally, The New York Times reported.
A spokesman for Weinstein did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to her complaint, Sokola told Weinstein she was 16 while they were on the way to what she thought would be a business lunch at a restaurant in 2002. She had arrived in the United States from Poland weeks earlier.
Instead of going to a restaurant, Sokola's lawyers wrote in the complaint, Weinstein's driver took them to his apartment, where she nervously realized they were alone.
Weinstein assaulted her and threatened her while she protested, Sokola explained in the complaint. He named specific actresses, telling the teenager that she'd never work as an actress if she didn't cooperate, according to the complaint.
"As Harvey Weinstein finally let Sokola leave, he told her that she needed to work on her stubbornness," Sokola's lawyers wrote in the complaint.
The complaint names several Disney and Miramax executives in addition to Bob and Harvey Weinstein. A number of people at the companies knew what Harvey Weinstein was doing and did not stop it, according to the complaint.
Sokola eventually became a clinical psychologist in Poland, though she blamed Weinstein for ending her dream of acting.
"As part of my professional education and experience, I have learned that some wounds never fully heal … by revealing my own scar, I hope to encourage others to speak up about their own experiences," she said in her statement.
Weinstein's criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault is expected to begin in Manhattan in January. He has pleaded not guilty, and repeatedly denied allegations of non-consensual sexual contact.
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