Harvey Weinstein is alleged by the lawsuit to have ‘lured his victims into a false sense of security’. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
An actor who claims she was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein is suing the disgraced mogul’s production company, claiming it was complicit in his abuse, according to reports.
Dominique Huett has filed a $5m (£3.8m) civil suit with Los Angeles superior court, alleging that the Weinstein Company “aided and abetted” Weinstein in “repeated acts of sexual misconduct”. The suit is believed to be the first filed against Weinstein or his company since the allegations against the producer came to light three weeks ago.
According to documents uploaded by Variety, the lawsuit alleges that Weinstein asked Huett to his room at a hotel in Beverly Hills in 2010 under the pretence of discussing her acting career. Once there he asked if she would give him a massage, before suggesting he perform oral sex on her. Huett refused, but says that Weinstein “would not take no for an answer”. After performing oral sex on Huett, Weinstein masturbated in front of her, the suit claims.
Weinstein then allegedly offered Huett a role on the reality TV series Project Runway, which the Weinstein Company produced.
In the suit Huett alleges that the board of the Weinstein Company had been negligent in ignoring Weinstein’s behaviour, which it had been aware of since the 1990s. The suit claims that the company’s board of directors, which includes Weinstein’s brother Bob, knew about the confidential settlements that Weinstein is alleged to have reached with multiple women and did nothing to prevent further incidents.
“The Board of Directors was aware of the probable dangerous consequences of failing to remove or adequately supervise Weinstein,” the suit reads. “In failing to do so, [the] Defendant acted with actual malice and with conscious disregard to Plaintiff’s safety.”
The suit also claims that Weinstein would use female employees at the company as “honeypots”, “to lure his victims into a false sense of security” at the outset of meetings. These female employees were then later dismissed, leaving Weinstein alone with his victims, the suit says.
So far more than 50 women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment or sexual assault. The 65-year old is currently the subject of criminal investigations in London, Los Angeles and New York. A spokesperson for Weinstein says that the producer has “unequivocally denied” all allegations of non-consensual sex.
The Weinstein Company has repeatedly said that it was unaware of Weinstein’s alleged behaviour, with Bob Weinstein saying that he had no idea about “the type of predator [his brother] was”.