Attorneys representing a woman who alleges Jason Derulo signed her to his record company, then later threatened and fired her after she resisted his sexual advances, argue in new court papers that the singer and Atlantic Recording Corp. cannot be released as defendants by claiming the case should have been filed in New York.
Emaza Gibson claims in her Los Angeles Superior Court suit that Derulo hired her in 2021 and “promised to make multiple music albums” with her as part of a joint venture with Atlantic Recording Corp. and his label, Future History, which were named as co-defendants.
Lawyers for Derulo, 34, and Atlantic previously filed court papers stating that if Gibson was going to file a lawsuit, it should have been brought in New York state rather than in California.
“The artist agreement and the inducement agreement, both signed by plaintiff, each provide that they are deemed to have been made in New York, that they are governed by New York law and that the federal or state courts located in New York County have sole and exclusive jurisdiction of any action related to the agreements,” attorneys for Derulo and the record label state in their court papers.
But in their court papers filed Thursday with Judge Kerry Bensinger, Gibson’s attorneys disagree that the case should have been brought in New York.
“Here, there is no dispute the alleged violative conduct within the (lawsuit) occurred within California,” Gibson’s attorneys state in their pleadings. “Moreover, the plaintiff and the two individual defendants are indisputably residents of California.”
However, the Derulo-Atlantic attorneys argue in their court papers that the parties selected New York as the exclusive place to resolve any disputes and that Gibson “cannot meet her heavy burden to establish otherwise.”
In a sworn declaration, Gibson says she was unaware that the documents presented to her stated where employment disputes must be addressed.
“Most importantly, I did not know the forum selection clauses of these agreements, should I be subject to sexual harassment, or retaliation based upon my sex, would require me to seek justice several thousand miles away from my California home and the city in which the vast majority of the unlawful conduct transpired,” Gibson says.
Derulo and Atlantic also are seeking to be removed from Gibson’s case through a separate motion in which their attorneys allege a lack of detail supporting the claims against their client. As an example, they note that Gibson alleges Derulo told her that in order to be successful in the music industry, an artist needs to partake in “goat skin and fish scales.” Both are slang phrases in which “goat skin” means to drink alcohol and “fish scales” refers to cocaine, according to the Derulo-Atlantic attorneys’ court papers.
“Ignoring the actual meanings of the words, plaintiff offers only the conclusory assertion that `goat skin’ instead refers to a sexual ritual involving goat’s blood and that she understood that Mr. Derulo was propositioning her for sex,” the defense attorneys further state in their court papers. “Her false allegation as to the meaning of two specifically defined phrases is ridiculous on its face and does not need to be accepted by the court.”
Further, there are no allegations that anyone at Atlantic mistreated Gibson, nor does she allege that Derulo was Atlantic’s employee or agent, the Derulo-Atlantic lawyers maintain.
“In the end, none of the alleged conduct constitutes sexual harassment, violence or intimidation…,” the defense attorneys argue in their court papers.
But according to Gibson’s lawsuit, “goat skin and fish scales” is a Haitian reference referring to conducting sex rituals, sacrificing a goat, goat blood and doing cocaine.
Hearings on both of the Derulo-Atlantic motions are scheduled April 16.
Gibson was fired in September 2022, the suit states, and was never able to get a response from Atlantic executives about her allegations of “sexually, emotionally and physically inappropriate behavior.”