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A federal judge has dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit in opposition to the previous head of the Grammy Awards, after the plaintiff fell out together with her legal professionals and mentioned in court docket papers that she feared for her security and well-being if her actual title have been revealed in the course of the case.
The swimsuit was dismissed on Friday “with out prejudice” by Judge Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan, that means it could possibly be refiled once more sooner or later.
The plaintiff filed her swimsuit anonymously in New York State Supreme Court in November, saying that Neil Portnow, the previous chief govt of the Recording Academy, had drugged and raped her in a New York resort room in 2018. Mr. Portnow, who led the Grammy group from 2002 to 2019, denied the accusation, and in court docket papers his legal professionals have mentioned his encounter with the girl was consensual.
The case was eliminated to federal court docket in January, and in April, Mr. Portnow’s legal professionals mentioned they might file a movement to compel the girl — who’s described in court docket papers solely as a musician from outdoors the United States — to make use of her actual title.
In response, the girl filed an uncommon direct enchantment to the judge, asking to have her case dismissed, and saying that she feared “potential grave hurt” if her title grew to become recognized. Her legal professionals then requested permission to withdraw as her counsel, saying that “the attorney-client relationship has deteriorated past restore.”
In her letter to the judge, the girl mentioned that her lead lawyer, Jeffrey R. Anderson, had truly resigned days earlier and instructed her in a letter: “Now that the defendants introduced your case into the federal court docket the place your anonymity and your title can now not be protected, you’re confronted and we’re confronted with the potential of grave additional hurt.”
Lawyers for Mr. Portnow wrote to the judge saying that any dismissal of the case ought to be “with prejudice,” which might stop her from bringing it once more.
The lady, they wrote, had engaged in “vexatious and harassing habits that has precipitated substantial hurt” to Mr. Portnow. Their response included what they mentioned have been excerpts from textual content messages and emails; they mentioned the girl had proposed marriage to Mr. Portnow and requested him to write down a letter of advice for an immigration software.
In rejecting Mr. Portnow’s request, Judge Torres mentioned that Mr. Portnow wouldn’t endure “plain authorized prejudice” if one other case have been introduced. The judge additionally famous the textual content messages and emails he cited, saying: “Portnow’s one-sided characterization of the occasions at situation precedes discovery, and Portnow has not supplied proof that the litigation itself was filed with an ‘unwell motive.’”
In a press release, Mr. Portnow mentioned, “These newest developments affirm what I’ve mentioned over the previous 5 years because the inception of those outrageous and damaging allegations: The claims in opposition to me have been false and with out advantage. I stay up for shifting on with my life and persevering with to work on significant tasks.”
