A New York jury ordered James Toback to pay $1.68 billion to the handfuls of ladies who accused him of sexual assault.
Wednesday’s determination marked one of many largest jury awards in New York historical past. Whereas $1.4 billion was for punitive damages, the opposite $280 million went towards compensatory damages.
The disgraced director, 80, didn’t seem in court docket for the trial, the place 40 ladies took the stand to share their tales of sexual abuse and different crimes courting again over 35 years.
Tobach reportedly tried to have the case dismissed final yr and stopped attending hearings after his request was denied.
On account of his absence, the choose entered a default judgment towards Toback, making the current trial for damages solely.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer Brad Beckworth informed reporters that he hopes the hefty payout will ship a message to highly effective folks “who don’t deal with ladies appropriately.”
“This verdict is about justice,” Beckworth mentioned in an announcement, per NPR. “However extra importantly, it’s about taking energy again from the abusers — and their and enablers — and returning it to these he tried to regulate and silence.”
Over three dozen ladies filed a joint lawsuit towards the “serial sexual predator” in 2022 after the Grownup Survivors Act went into impact in New York state, permitting victims of sexual abuse to come back ahead no matter when the alleged crime was dedicated.
The ladies claimed the Oscar-nominated filmmaker “used his fame, energy and affect within the leisure business” to “lure” them into assembly him below the guise that he would give them their huge break.
Nonetheless, they claimed he “falsely imprisoned, sexually abused, assaulted, and/or battered them” earlier than blacklisting them from the leisure business.
He allegedly went so far as threatening to kill among the victims in the event that they got here ahead concerning the assaults.
The “Bugsy” author has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by over 300 ladies in his lifetime, all of which he has denied.
The allegations first got here to mild in late 2017 because the #MeToo motion gained momentum. On the time, 30 ladies accused Toback of sexual misconduct.
Nonetheless, the Los Angeles County District Lawyer’s Workplace determined to not prosecute the director in 2018 as a result of statute of limitations.
If you happen to or somebody is affected by any of the problems raised on this story, name the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
