Harvey Weinstein: Judge rejects $19m deal with accusers
Harvey Weinstein's accusers in the proposed class-action settlement were too varied to be grouped together, the judge said.
Tuesday 14 July 2020 23:15, UK
A US judge has rejected a $19m (拢15.1m) settlement between Harvey Weinstein and some of his accusers.
Weinstein's accusers in the proposed class-action settlement were too varied to be grouped together, Judge Alvin K Hellerstein said in Manhattan.
Lawyers for several women who had opposed the deal praised the judge's swift rejection of what they described as a one-sided proposal.
A spokesman for Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault, did not immediately comment. A lawyer for his companies also declined to comment.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who announced the tentative agreement on 30 June, said her office is reviewing the decision and determining its next steps.
"Our office has been fighting tirelessly to provide these brave women with the justice they are owed and will continue to do so," a spokesman for Ms James said.
The deal to settle lawsuits would have provided between $7,500 (£5,973) and $750,000 (£597,348) to some of Weinstein's accusers.
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Once one of Hollywood's most influential figures, Weinstein, 68, was convicted of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 following a landmark trial earlier this year.
The former producer, whose films included Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Gangs Of New York, had used a walking frame throughout his trial and arrived at the sentencing in a wheelchair, due to back problems caused by a car crash last year.
Weinstein was diagnosed in March with COVID-19 just days after he was moved to New York's maximum-security Wende Correctional Facility to begin serving his prison sentence.