Four anonymous former housekeepers for Motown legend Smokey Robinson have claimed in a lawsuit he allegedly carried out multiple sexual assaults on them while they worked for him.
The alleged attacks are said to have taken place at the singer’s Los Angeles home between 2007 and 2024, according to the women, who are seeking at least $50m (£37m) in damages in a civil case filed in the city.
They also accuse him, in the suit, of creating a hostile work environment, forcing them to work illegally long hours and failing to pay what they were owed.
News agencies in the US have been unable to independently verify the allegations and Robinson has been approached for comment.
Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances in Los Angeles in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The claimants say that Robinson, 85, would wait until he was alone with them in the house before carrying out the alleged attacks, despite their objections.
All the women, who have withheld their names for privacy reasons, eventually resigned over the assaults, the lawsuit claims, though in some cases it took several years.
According to the suit, they feared coming forward over fears of retaliation, public shame and possible effects on their immigration status.
The claim further states that Robinson’s wife, Frances Robinson, enabled his behaviour.
It also says she was responsible for creating a hostile work environment and shouted at them and used ethnic insults.
One woman suffered at least 20 assaults from 2012 until 2024, the lawsuit alleges, while another who worked for the couple from 2014 until 2020 was said to have been assaulted at least 23 times.
A different woman whose claims are made in the suit accused Robinson of assaulting her seven times, including at least one rape, in the years she worked for them.
The fourth woman claimed similar experiences to the other women but did not say how many times she was allegedly assaulted during the 18 years she worked for Robinson.
She also acted as Frances Robinson’s personal assistant, hairdresser and cook, she said.
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The claim for damages is based on sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and other allegations.
Three of the accusers appeared in person at a news conference in the city with their lawyers, wearing masks, while a fourth appeared remotely. None spoke.
One of the women’s lawyers said they would welcome a criminal investigation but the women had not filed police reports yet, as they had been held back by the same fears that kept them from coming forward initially.
Robinson, a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s – both with his group The Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs including The Tears Of A Clown and The Tracks Of My Tears.
He was a central part of the Motown Records music machine in his hometown of Detroit as an artist, producer and songwriter for other artists.
