Harvey Weinstein's former assistant's lawsuit against him has been dismissed.
Harvey Weinstein
The 65-year-old disgraced producer has faced several allegations of historic sexual harassment over the past few months, one was made by Sandeep Rehal, who tired to sue Weinstein for allegedly being "forced to work in a pervasive and severe sexually hostile work environment".
However, on Monday (26.02.18), federal court judge Jesse Furman threw out the case in a Manhattan court, because Rehal's legal representation were unable to prove the Southern District of New York had the correct jurisdiction to complete proceedings, according to the New York Post's Page Six column.
Although it has been halted, this does not mean the case cannot be refiled elsewhere, and the former aide's lawyer Genie Harrison has vowed to resubmit the file against the shamed filmmaker sometime this week.
The Weinstein Company's ex-employee had claimed she was forced to clean up after his "sexual encounters".
Rehal was seeking action against Weinstein, his brother Bob, The Weinstein Company and the company's head of human resources Frank Gil.
She had started working for Weinstein in 2013 when she was 26, and according to documents, she quit two years later in 2015 when she reached "an emotional breaking point."
The papers claimed that Rehal was involved in "catering to Harvey Weinstein's sexual appetites and activities", including being involved in both the "preparations" and the "clean up" of Weinstein's "extremely prolific sexual encounters."
Rehal also alleged that part of her duties included cleaning up "the semen on the couch in Harvey Weinstein's office," which she claimed "happened on a regular basis, three or so times a week" when Harvey Weinstein was in New York.
The assistant claimed that Weinstein "used sexist and sexual language" when speaking to her, as well as claiming the producer made advances on her as he would allegedly "touch her thighs" when she took car rides with him.
Weinstein already responded to the claims made against him, saying he "categorically denies" the allegations.
A spokesperson for the producer said in a statement: "Mr. Weinstein categorically denies these claims and his lawyers will respond in the appropriate legal forum with evidence proving they are untrue."
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