Kevin Liles Assault Lawsuit Tossed Out

Back in February former music exec Kevin Liles was hit with a civil lawsuit accusing him of sixual assault by a former Def Jam employee [click here if you missed that].

Now the case has been tossed out on the grounds that she was paid by Universal Music Group to settle her initial complaint back in 2005...

From Digital News

It turns out that the anonymous Jane Doe’s allegations are barred from court upon discovery that Def Jam’s parent, Universal Music Group (UMG), already paid the woman. She was paid $47,500 in 2005 to settle a civil complaint she’d filed with New York state regulators.

In the original complaint, the woman alleged she was unlawfully fired in retaliation for complaining about Liles’ verbally harassing and dancing inappropriately with her. That complaint, notably, did not include grape claims. UMG agreed to pay the woman in exchange for her agreeing not to bring further legal action, though the company did not admit any wrongdoing.

It’s also worth mentioning that Liles was not involved in that settlement, since he’d left Def Jam by the time it was signed. However, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald determined in an order on Monday that the release language still “expressly and unambiguously covered” Liles—meaning the woman cannot sue the mogul for the same allegations. “The agreement and release itself contains no language cabining its terms at all,” wrote Judge Buchwald. “To the contrary, the agreement consistently and intentionally utilizes broad language discharging ‘any and all’ claims which ‘are known or reasonably should be known’ by [the] plaintiff.”

Judge Buchwald threw out the complaint with prejudice, ruling that there’s no amendment Jane Doe could make that would allow her to “avoid the consequences of a comprehensive settlement agreement.”