A federal decide dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit towards the previous Grammy Awards boss after the plaintiff fell out along with her attorneys and stated in courtroom paperwork that she feared for her security and well-being if her actual title was revealed in the course of the case. .
The lawsuit was dismissed on Friday “with out prejudice” by Decide Analisa Torres of Manhattan Federal District Courtroom, which means it could possibly be refiled sooner or later.
The plaintiff filed its case anonymously in New York State Supreme Courtroom in November, saying that Neil Portnow, the previous chief government of the Recording Academy, drugged and raped her in a New York lodge room in 2018. Portnow, who led the Grammy group of 2002 a In 2019, he denied the accusation and, in courtroom paperwork, his attorneys said that his assembly with the girl was consensual.
The case was delivered to federal courtroom in January, and in April, Portnow’s attorneys stated they’d file a movement to compel the girl — who’s described in courtroom paperwork solely as a musician from outdoors the US — to make use of her actual title. . .
In response, the girl made an uncommon direct enchantment to the decide, asking for her case to be dismissed and saying she feared “potential severe hurt” if her title turned identified. Her attorneys then requested for permission to withdraw as her attorneys stated “the attorney-client relationship has deteriorated irreparably.”
In her letter to the decide, the girl stated her lead lawyer, Jeffrey R. Anderson, had resigned days earlier and informed her in a letter: “Now that the defendants have taken their case to federal courtroom, the place your anonymity and your title won’t can now not be protected, you and we face the potential for additional severe hurt.”
Portnow’s attorneys wrote to the decide saying any dismissal of the case ought to be “with prejudice,” which might forestall her from bringing it once more.
The girl, they wrote, engaged in “harassing and harassing conduct that prompted substantial hurt” to Mr. Their response included what they stated have been excerpts from textual content messages and emails; they stated the girl had proposed marriage to Mr. Portnow and requested him to put in writing a letter of advice for an immigration utility.
In rejecting Mr. Portnow’s request, Decide Torres stated that Mr. Portnow wouldn’t endure “clear authorized prejudice” if one other case have been filed. The decide additionally famous the textual content messages and emails he cited, saying, “Portnow’s one-sided characterization of the occasions in query precedes discovery, and Portnow has supplied no proof that the litigation itself was introduced with a ‘sick motive.’ ”.
In an announcement, Portnow stated: “These newest developments verify what I’ve stated for the previous 5 years since these outrageous and damaging allegations started: the allegations towards me have been false and with out advantage. I sit up for shifting on with my life and persevering with to work on significant initiatives.”
