FURY OVER WEINSTEIN ‘GAG’LAWYER
‘Silenced’ British women hit out as misconduct proceedings dropped
TWO British women who accused Hollywood rapist Harvey Weinstein of abuse are furious that his lawyer won’t face a misconduct trial.
Mark Mansell, 59, oversaw a nondisclosure agreement signed by film mogul Weinstein’s former assistants Rowena Chiu and Zelda Perkins in 1998.
The women claim they were pressured into signing the deal which, they say, meant they couldn’t tell police about the alleged abuse.
Mr Mansell claims he is too ill to go through a tribunal but is still working at top London law firm Allen and Overy.
Rowena claims Weinstein stripped naked and tried to rape her on a trip to the Venice Film Festival. She confided in Zelda and they sought legal advice. But after signing the NDA they say they couldn’t speak to anyone – and Rowena was driven to the brink of suicide.
INSULTING
Zelda, 47, said: “If Mark Mansell is fit enough to work, he’s fit enough to be held accountable. I’m happy for the case to be stayed on grounds of ill health but I’m incandescent he is back at work.
“It’s insulting. It’s an old boys’ network. No one was going to let him be hauled over the coals. We were put in a room with guys in suits who made us feel like we were the criminals. It did not feel like we had a choice when it came to signing.
“The system is rotten and that’s what I want to fight. NDAs should not silence people speaking about wrongdoing.”
Rowena, 46, says Weinstein stripped and demanded oral sex at a supposed business meeting when she was his £18,000-a-year aide. Next night, she says he groped her before pinning her on the bed and saying: “It will soon be over.”
Rowena said: “I’m appalled Mark Mansell won’t face a tribunal. You can’t force legal documents on young women when the balance of power is so out of whack. I don’t know how he looks at himself in the mirror.”
The women claim the NDA stipulated they should contact Mr Mansell if asked to speak to police and use “all reasonable endeavours to limit the scope of the disclosure”. In 2018, Mr
Mansell told the women and equalities select committee he
DISGRACED Weinstein at his rape trial wouldn’t have allowed anything in the NDA which went beyond his personal ethics. But he added: “I can see in
theory people might perceive
this as perverting the course of justice.” Weinstein, 68, was jailed in New York for 23 years for rape and sex assault. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal agreed
Mr Mansell had a case to answer. But the Solicitors Regulatory Authority said: “Medical experts instructed by both parties agreed continuation of proceedings, in particular a trial, represented a significant risk to Mr Mansell’s life.”
Mr Mansell’s solicitor John Gould said his client “is of the view the proceedings are misconceived and should never have been brought.” He said the women “were represented throughout by English solicitors, English barrister and US attorney”.