Hollywood actor, Cuba Gooding Jr was sued on Wednesday, November 22 by two women whose segxwal assault cases against him underlay a criminal prosecution that ended with him pleading guilty but serving no jail time.
In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Jasmine Abbay said the Oscar winning actor forcibly kissed her without her consent in September 2018, while she was working as a cocktail waitress at the LAVO nightclub in midtown Manhattan.
The other plaintiff, Kelsey Harbert, accused Gooding of groping her Bosom in June 2019 at the Magic Hour rooftop bar, also in midtown.
"Our clients were deprived of the justice they sought in the criminal case," Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. "They are now seeking justice and accountability in their civil cases."
Abbay and Harbert are seeking unspecified damages for assault and battery under the Adult Survivors Act, a special New York state law letting women sue their alleged abusers even if statutes of limitations have run out.
The law expires after the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Others sued under the law include actors Russell Brand and Bill Cosby, former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, former president Donald Trump, and hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, whose case settled after one day.
Gooding won an Academy Award in 1997 for best supporting actor in "Jerry Maguire."
He pleaded guilty in April 2022 to a misdemeanor charge of forcibly touching Abbay, who was not identified by name at the time but revealed her identity in her lawsuit.
The charge was downgraded six months later to harassment, to which Gooding pleaded guilty after complying with a plea agreement that required alcohol and behavior modification treatment and no further arrests.
Accusations by Abbay, Harbert and a third woman were the basis for a six-count indictment against Gooding, which his guilty plea resolved.
Harbert at the time expressed outrage she could not hold him accountable in court for the "irreparable damage" he caused.
Back in June, Gooding settled a civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, moments before trial, by a woman who accused him of a 2013 rape. Terms were not disclosed. The woman had sought $6 million.
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