Smokey Robinson is currently facing sexual assault allegations from four former employees.
The 85-year-old singer is accused of harassing and assaulting these former housekeepers, who worked at his Chatsworth home between 2006 and 2024, according to a complaint filed on May 6.
The women claim they felt forced to leave their positions due to Robinson’s “repeated sexual assaults and sexual harassment,” asserting that his conduct was “willful, wanton, and malicious, with a conscious disregard for their rights, privacy, and feelings.”
Frances Robinson, the singer’s wife of 25 years, is also named in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs allege that she was aware of his previous acts of sexual misconduct and “failed to take appropriate corrective action.”
One plaintiff expressed that she was “reluctant to report … Smokey Robinson’s unlawful actions to the authorities out of fear of losing her job, familial repercussions, public embarrassment, shame, and humiliation for herself and her family, potential negative impacts on her immigration status, as well as being threatened and intimidated by Defendant Smokey Robinson’s prominent celebrity status and his influential friends and associates,” as stated in the lawsuit.
All four plaintiffs reported that they worked 10 hours a day, six days a week for the Robinsons without receiving the minimum wage or overtime pay. They also worked holidays without additional holiday compensation, as mentioned in the lawsuit. The housekeepers were paid between $10 and $18 per hour, while the assistant started at $15 an hour before receiving a raise to $20 an hour.
Apart from covering legal fees and court expenses, the lawsuit seeks general damages of “no less than $50 million” for most claims, along with punitive damages to be determined during the trial.
