Kevin Liles, who’s taken a step towards officially seeking the dismissal of a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him by a Jane Doe plaintiff. Photo Credit: Maryland GovPics
Universal Music Group (UMG) and 300 Entertainment co-founder Kevin Liles are taking steps to seek the dismissal of a Jane Doe accuser’s sexual assault lawsuit.
The major label and the former Warner Music higher-up (who was an exec with UMG’s Def Jam as well as the overarching Island Def Jam in the 90s and early 2000s) made those requests in separate letters to the presiding judge.
Focusing first on the actual allegations, the accuser originally levied the claims in a state-level suit this past February. According to the Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala-repped plaintiff, she started working at Island Def Jam in or around 1999.
“Soon” thereafter, “Liles began sexually harassing her, including making derogatory and degrading comments based on her gender regarding her body and appearance,” per the initial suit.
The alleged misconduct “escalated” by turning physical between 2000 and 2002, when the plaintiff was allegedly “sexually abused, assaulted and raped by” Liles.
As for where UMG fits into the action, the major is facing allegations of “permitting, aiding, abetting, conspiring, ratifying and enabling…the sexual harassment, assault and rape.”
Bearing in mind the latter point, Pryor Cashman-repped Universal Music in its letter to the judge pinned any liability for the alleged sexual assault on Liles himself.
“Furthermore, UMGR [UMG Recordings] cannot be held liable for the alleged actions of Mr. Liles,” the company’s counsel wrote. “Assuming he had engaged in the conduct alleged, UMGR is a music company and the alleged conduct was indisputably not in furtherance of any business of UMGR.”
The major also expressed the belief (in many more words) that the complaint is time-barred. Without diving too far into the legal nitty-gritty here, the alleged victim is suing under New York City’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act.
With that statute, the New York City Council is said to have moved to open a two-year “lookback window” for sexual assault claims. Longer than (and, as described by the defendants, preempted by) the lookback window established under the state-level Adult Survivors Act, this period is said to have run through February 2025.
Shifting to Williams & Connolly-repped Liles’ letter, after touting the exec’s career (“one of the most respected members of the music industry”), his counsel took aim at the “patently false and untimely lawsuit.”
The accuser “offers zero factual bases for her salacious allegations,” per the text, and, among other things, fails “to explain when these purported acts occurred, where in UMG’s offices they occurred, identify a single person she reported this information to, or who was present.”
As to exactly where things go from here, both Liles and Universal Music are seeking a pre-motion conference concerning their plans to formally file for dismissal.
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.