Harvey Weinstein has been slapped with the first civil claims in England and Wales for accusations of sexual misconduct. According to The Guardian, the accuser’s attorney expects the lawsuit to escalate into a class-action claim against the disgraced indie mogul.
The accuser works in the film industry and wishes to remain anonymous, per her lawyer Jill Greenfield.
In addition to Weinstein being named personally, the suit also targets The Weinstein Company UK Ltd and The Weinstein Company LLC in the U.S.
Damages include “personal injury, expenses, consequential loss including aggravated and exemplary damages and interest arising out of a series of sexual assaults inflicted on the claimant by the defendant,” the publication wrote on Monday.
The claim is expected to exceed £300,000, or about $400,000.
Greenfield’s client said Weinstein’s assaults took place after 2000, and that she will be going to the cops to file a criminal complaint. Scotland Yard is already looking into sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein.
A spokesperson for Weinstein in the U.S. told TheWrap: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.
“Mr. Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.”