Another alleged victim of abuse at the hands of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has come forward and taken legal action in New York. The lawsuit, which the victim amended earlier this week, made accusations against Diddy and Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. While the majority of sexual harassment cases involve men pursuing sex from women, your case need not look like that, as this lawsuit reminds us. With the aid of a skilled New York sexual harassment lawyer, you may be entitled to a court judgment and substantial compensation, even if you and your harasser were of the same sex and even if they did not directly seek sex from you.
The victim, a male music producer, originally filed last month. The lawsuit alleged that, although Diddy never made or attempted sexual contact with the producer, he did try to coerce the producer "to engage in unwelcomed sex acts with" sex workers that Diddy had forced the producer to procure, according to NBC News.
The allegations involving Gooding stated the actor touched, groped, and fondled the producer's "legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders" and only stopped when the producer "forcibly pushed him away," the complaint asserted.
The producer's allegations against Diddy call to mind the lawsuit against another hip-hop star. Like the producer's case, the case against Lizzo and her touring company did not allege that Lizzo engaged in or pursued unwelcome sexual contact. Instead, according to three of her former backup dancers, Lizzo "pushed them to attend a live sex show at a venue in Amsterdam’s famed Red Light District..., and then pressured them to engage" with the nude female performers, including eating bananas situated in the performers' genital areas. Lizzo herself allegedly led a chant coercing one dancer to touch a performer's bare breasts, Billboard reported.
The Adult Survivors Act and the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law
The producer's abuse case against Diddy is one of several the mogul currently faces regarding sexual harassment or sexual abuse. Among those are Phillips & Associates, PLLC, client Joi Dickerson-Neal, who sued the mogul in November for sexual abuse she endured in 1991. The victim alleges that Diddy drugged her during dinner, sexually assaulted her, video recorded the assault, and showed the video footage to a wide array of people. An anonymous accuser alleged in December that Diddy flew her to New York, plied her with drugs and alcohol, and then joined two other men in gang-raping her.
If you encounter sexual harassment or sexual abuse in New York, state and city laws, which are often more friendly to survivors, may allow you to seek justice where federal law won't.
Our firm is pursuing Ms. Dickerson-Neal's case under New York State's Adult Survivors Act, which erected a one-year "lookback" window in which victims could sue regardless of when the abuse occurred. That window closed in late November 2023. New York City survivors can still pursue legal action, though. The city created the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which established a two-year lookback window allowing victims to seek justice for years-old or even decades-old abuse. That window is open and will remain so until March 1, 2025.
If you're a survivor of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or gender-motivated violence, you shouldn't have to suffer in silence. Even if that abuse occurred years or decades ago, the laws in New York City may still allow you to hold those wrongdoers accountable. The knowledgeable New York sexual abuse attorneys at Phillips & Associates have the essential skills and experience to help you get justice. Contact us online or at (866) 229-9441 to set up a free and confidential consultation today. Our team will work tirelessly to be the powerful and effective voice you deserve.