Disney asks court to seal Weinstein documents
Company named in woman’s suit over alleged Toronto sex assaults
What was the nature of Walt Disney Co.’s dealings with disgraced Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein?
That question could be central to a $14-million Toronto lawsuit filed by an actress and model — known in court as Jane Doe — who alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted her in 2000. Her lawsuit claims that the family-friendly brand, which at the time owned Weinstein’s Miramax film company, should be held partly responsible for two separate alleged assaults. The lawsuit’s allegations have not yet been tested in court.
On Monday, Disney will ask a Toronto court to seal details of its employment relationship with Weinstein. If the court agrees with Disney’s motion, these arrangements would be shrouded from public view.
Doe’s lawyers say this move is a step toward Disney trying to be removed entirely from the lawsuit — which also names Miramax, which Disney no longer owns, and Barbara Schneeweiss, Weinstein’s assistant at the time.
“At the time of the assaults Disney knew, should have known or was wilfully blind to the fact that Weinstein regularly sexually harassed and sexually assaulted women,” Doe’s statement of claim reads.
“Although Disney could have done so, Disney did not take steps to overrule Miramax’s business decision to accommodate and facilitate Weinstein’s serial sexual assaults on young women in the workplace.”
Disney has denied liability in the case, saying Doe’s claim has no legal basis. The company has said it had no knowledge of any complaints, lawsuits or settlements against Weinstein, and that the executive, who was cochairperson of Miramax at the time, had “virtual autonomy” to manage his business.
Doe alleges that Weinstein sexually assaulted her at what she believed to be a business meeting at the Sutton Place hotel in Toronto in 2000. During the meeting, her claim alleges that Weinstein took out his penis, gestured to it and said, “the best thing you could do for your career,” before holding her down and performing oral sex on her against her will.
Later that same day, Doe alleges that Weinstein stuck his tongue down her throat, after she returned for what she believed would be an apology.
Weinstein has yet to file a statement of defence in the Toronto case.
Through a spokesperson, he has addressed broader allegations against him, admitting that his behaviour may have caused “a lot of pain.” But he has also said many allegations against him are “patently false,” and that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied.”
Disney has requested a publication ban for the Monday proceedings.
“It is troubling that having endured conduct that was shrouded in secrecy and shame, Ms. Doe now faces an attempt to silence her yet again,” Doe’s lawyers, Marie Henein and Alex Smith, wrote in response to Disney’s sealing motion.
“While it is understandable that Disney might wish to avoid being publicly associated with Mr. Weinstein given the events of the past several months . . . embarrassment is not grounds for a sealing order.”
Disney purchased Miramax for $60 million (U.S.) in 1993. In 2010, it sold the company to an investment firm for $663 million.
Smith and Henein will argue that disclosing the documents will not put Disney at risk of revealing proprietary or commercially sensitive information.
“These agreements are the core of Disney’s arguments that it has zero responsibility for the consequences of Mr. Weinstein’s sexually predatory behaviour that he mastered under Disney’s ownership of Miramax,” they wrote.
Disney’s lawyer, David Reiter, declined to comment on the sealing request.
According to the statement of claim, Doe was in her early 20s at the time of the alleged incidents, working on her first movie. Weinstein was then well known for producing Oscarwinning films such as The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love and Good Will Hunting. Weinstein was dismissed from the Weinstein Co. in October 2017 over a series of highprofile sexual abuse allegations dating to the 1970s. The allega- tions against him have help fuel the ongoing #MeToo movement that is shining a light on sexual assault and harassment in the workplace.
In February, a judge tackled another hurdle in the Toronto case, deciding not to dismiss any parts of the lawsuit against Weinstein’s assistant, Schneeweiss.
Schneeweiss and her lawyer had filed a motion to dismiss claims in the lawsuit that she had facilitated the two alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein while working as his assistant.
Schneeweiss’s lawyer had argued that parts of Doe’s claim were frivolous, vexatious and irrelevant, and that some of her claims should be barred under the 2002 Limitations Act.
“In my view, there is no ambiguity in the Claim,” Judge Patrick Monahan wrote in his decision. “With respect to the demand for particulars, in my view Doe has pleaded sufficient material facts to permit Schneeweiss to know the case she needs to meet.”