The legal fight between Harvey Weinstein and his former personal assistant is moving to state court after being dismissed on jurisdictional grounds by a federal judge.
Sandeep Rehal in January filed a graphic discrimination and harassment complaint against Harvey and Bob Weinstein and The Weinstein Co., and against the Weinstein brothers and human resources exec Frank Gil for aiding and abetting that conduct.
Rehal worked for Harvey Weinstein from 2013 to 2015 and claims she was subject to severe and pervasive harassment and a hostile environment, including taking dictation of emails while Weinstein was naked, keeping a list of contacts that included a special asterisk to denote which were his “girls,” setting up an apartment near the office that he could use for sexual liaisons, buying lingerie and managing the stock of his erectile dysfunction injections.
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In response to her suit, Weinstein’s reps said he categorically denied Rehal’s claims and his attorneys would prove in court that they’re untrue.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman on Monday dismissed the matter on jurisdictional grounds, after questioning in January whether his court was the proper venue for her complaint. Rehal is a California resident, while TWC is a Delaware limited liability company that’s primarily based in New York — but the court noted that an LLC is considered a citizen of each state in which its members reside. For the New York federal court to handle the matter, Rehal would have needed to show that none of the defendants were residents of California. She couldn’t, and the matter was dismissed.
Rehal’s attorneys Laura Schnell and Genie Harrison on Tuesday refiled in New York state court, which isn’t subject to the complete diversity requirement. Her claims against the companies and individuals remain the same.
