The Hollywood Reporter
While nearly all civil suits against Harvey Weinstein were resolved by a global settlement, due to a New York law that temporarily lifts the statute of limitations on certain sexual misconduct claims he’s now facing a new legal fight over allegations that his former Miramax colleague raped a 19-year-old model two decades ago.
Sara Ziff on Thursday sued Weinstein, Miramax, Disney and others alleging that she was raped by Fabrizio Lombardo and that his position within the company directly facilitated it. She says that in 2001, when she was 19 and working as a model, her agents set up a meeting with Lombardo because she wanted to act. According to her complaint, which is embedded below, he invited her to a private screening of Black Hawk Down at the Miramax offices and told her Weinstein would be there. Hoping to make a connection with the powerful producer, she attended and later accepted an invitation from Lombardo to go to a nearby hotel to meet with Weinstein and others, including Bob Weinstein, another producer who he said the aspiring actress should meet. This invitation, she alleges, was a trick to get her alone in a hotel where she says Lombardo raped her.
She alleges that she was so traumatized that she couldn’t speak of the assault for several years, and says in the following weeks she attended multiple meetings initiated by Lombardo because she feared retaliation.
New York’s Adult Survivors Act not only opens a window for claims that would normally be time-barred but also includes a provision that allows for claims against employers if the incident involved the workplace.
Ziff alleges that “Weinstein — and thus Miramax and Disney — were fully aware Mr. Lombardo was a danger to women whom he encountered at work,” and that “Mr. Lombardo would never have been able to rape Ms. Ziff if not for his position at Miramax and Disney” because he “used the companies’ offices, resources, prestige, and the possibility of career advancement” to get her to attend the screening and the hotel meeting.
Ziff is suing Lombardo for sexual battery and gender-motivated violence, and the others for negligent supervision. She’s being represented by Laura Edidin of Wigdor LLP and Kevin Mintzer.
“To be clear, Sara Ziff is not accusing Harvey Weinstein of rape nor does she allege that there was any sexual misconduct directed at her by Mr. Weinstein,” states Imran H. Ansari, an attorney for Harvey Weinstein. “Her allegations of rape are directed at Fabrizio Lombardo. Certainly Mr. Weinstein had no control over any alleged conduct by Mr. Lombardo, nor would he have any reason to know what Mr. Lombardo was doing nor where Mr. Lombardo was at the time that Ms. Ziff alleges she was raped. As such, Mr. Weinstein firmly denies that he has any liability for the alleged conduct of another.”
Disney did not yet reply to a request for comment.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
