One of the six plaintiffs who have accused legendary singer Smokey Robinson of sexual misconduct while they worked in the entertainer’s household has responded to allegations that she is stalling on giving a deposition and that her claims should be dismissed, accusing the defense of trying to get a tactical advantage.
Christopher Frost and other attorneys for Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, have said in their court papers that the plaintiffs’ allegations in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit are part of an “organized, avaricious campaign to extract money from an 85-year-old legend.”
In court papers previously filed with Judge Kevin Brazile in advance of an April 7 hearing, Frost and his team contend that an original plaintiff known only as Jane Doe 4 has repeatedly avoided being deposed and therefore should face a possible default judgment. At minimum, her individual claims should be assessed evidentiary sanctions limiting what evidence can be presented on her behalf, according to the Robinson lawyers.
But in court papers filed Tuesday with Brazile, Doe 4’s attorneys balk at Frost’s claims regarding their client.
“Most tellingly, after Jane Doe 4 completed the very deposition at issue in this motion … Christopher Frost expressly elected in writing to keep this motion on calendar despite its obvious mootness,” Doe 4’s lawyers state in their pleadings. “This is not the conduct of a party reluctantly driven to court by discovery misconduct. It is the conduct of a party weaponizing the discovery process and this court’s resources to gain improper tactical advantage and to burden plaintiffs with the costs and distraction of meritless satellite litigation, rather than confront this case on its merits.”
There is no ongoing court order violation, no prejudice and no basis in law for the court to dismiss Doe 4’s claims under these circumstances, according to Doe 4’s lawyers.
But according to the Robinson attorneys, if the judge is not yet inclined to impose the harsh sanctions, he should at the very least prevent her from testifying at trial.
“A simple review of the facts make clear that … Jane Doe 4 and her counsel are, in fact, ignoring the court’s orders and utilizing every tool at their disposal to evade her deposition,” the Robinson attorneys further state in their pleadings.
According to the suit filed last May 6, the four original plaintiffs contend the alleged abuses occurred at the 85-year-old Motown icon’s Chatsworth home and elsewhere. The two newer plaintiffs are identified as Jane Doe 5 and John Doe 1 and joined the case in November.