Smokey Robinson Sued By Four Former Employees For Alleged Sexual Violence

JAKARTA - The legendary singer and executive of Motown Records, Smokey Robinson, has been sued by four former employees on suspicion of sexual violence.

The lawsuit alleges the 85-year-old had committed sexual assault, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, and created an unfriendly work environment.

Not alone, his wife, Frances Robinson, was also the defendant in the lawsuit, which was filed in the Los Angeles High Court on Tuesday, May 6.

"The plaintiff explicitly informed Defendant Robinson on several occasions that they were not interested in his seduction and rejected his coercive, physical, sexual, and detrimental actions," the lawsuit reads, quoted by KTLA5 via NME, Thursday, May 8.

It was stated that the four plaintiffs were housemaids for Robinson and his wife, where the alleged incident took place from 2007 to April 2024.

The plaintiff also demanded Smokey Robinson to pay compensation of US$ 50 million or equivalent to Rp. 825.25 billion.

In addition to the allegations against Robinson, the four women claimed that the wife had done nothing to prevent it, although she was allegedly fully aware of previous acts of sexual harassment, after resolving cases with other women who suffered and experienced similar sexual assaults.

In addition, the plaintiff alleges that Robinson's wife preserves an unfriendly work environment by regularly shouting at them separately in an unfriendly manner, and using ethnically demeaning speech and language.

Furthermore, the plaintiff also claimed that the defendants failed to give them a salary slip for the working hours they had completed.

According to court documents, each woman did not want to report Robinson to the police for fear of losing their livelihoods.