Ashley Judd's Appeal For Sexual Harassment Case Against Harvey Weinstein Granted

The appeals court, on Wednesday, ruled that Ashley Judd can pursue a sexual harassment claim against Harvey Weinstein after finding out that he used his power to manipulate her career following an incident at the Peninsula Hotel in the mid-1990s.

“(T)heir relationship consisted of an inherent power imbalance wherein Weinstein was uniquely situated to exercise coercion or leverage over Judd by virtue of his professional position and influence as a top producer in Hollywood,” wrote Judge Mary H. Murguia, for the panel, as quoted by Variety.

"Therefore, the district court erred when it dismissed Judd’s sexual harassment claim."

Initially, Judd's sexual harassment claim against Weinstein was thrown out because she was not Weinstein's employee during the incident.

Judd said in the lawsuit she filed in April 2018 that Weinstein lured her into his hotel room and asked her to watch him shower. He also tried to massage her.

She also sued the Miramax founder for defamation and retaliation claiming that he blacklisted her in the film industry after she rejected his advances. Judd brought the suit after "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson said in an interview that Weinstein discouraged him from casting Judd and Mira Sorvino because they were a "nightmare to work with.”

Judge Philip Gutierrez allowed Judd to proceed with the retaliation and defamation claims but dismissed the sexual harassment claim. But now the three-judge panel has made it clear that Weinstein and Judd's relationship has a similar power imbalance to that of the teacher-student and landlord-tenant relationships.

"That is, by virtue of his professional position and influence as a top producer in Hollywood, Weinstein was uniquely situated to exercise coercive power or leverage over Judd, who was a young actor at the beginning of her career at the time of the alleged harassment," Murgia wrote.

"Moreover, given Weinstein’s highly influential and ‘unavoidable’ presence in the film industry, the relationship was one that would have been difficult to terminate ‘without tangible hardship’ to Judd, whose livelihood as an actor depended on being cast for roles."

Meanwhile, Marlon Wayans, one of the producers of the "Scary Movie” film series, said that Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, are dreadful to work with. According to him, the Weinsteins are not the "kindest people to be in business with" and even called them an "evil regime."

Weinstein was convicted for rape and sexual assault and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence. There are separate rape and sexual assault charges against him that are still pending in Los Angeles.

The disgraced film producer offered a $18.9 million settlement to his alleged victims, but US. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein dismissed it. The laywers of the six women involved in the case were pleased with the judge's decision to reject the "one-sided proposal."