Former housekeepers sues Smokey Robinson, the hit maker, with a lawsuit
| William “Smokey” Robinson of “My Girl” fame has angrily denied that he touched inappropriately four women who were housekeepers who worked for him and his wife. In a phone call with the Daily Mail on Wednesday, May 7, the Motown star, 85, briefly addressed the allegations against him in a complaint filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 6. “I am appalled,” Robinson said, adding, “I can’t speak about this right now,” he told the newspaper. Robinson has been accused of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, and creating a hostile work environment by four Jane Does who worked for the star and his wife, Frances, over a period of nearly 20 years. The complaint claimed Robinson “repeatedly forced his fingers and penis into their vaginas, causing severe and excruciating pain” without consent, and also alleged that he would use “physical barriers, force, threats of force” and more, such as locking his bedroom door, to prevent the women from leaving during the alleged assaults. Frances, whom Robinson married in 2002, is also named in the lawsuit, as the plaintiffs allege that she had “full knowledge of his prior acts of sexual misconduct” and “failed to take the appropriate corrective action” to prevent his “deviant misconduct,” even after settling cases with other women who experienced similar alleged assaults by Robinson. Robinson wrote “My Girl” for David Ruffin of the Temptations, which many consider to be one of the best records ever made.. |