Smokey Robinson faces new sexual assault claims from ex-workers

Two more former employees are taking legal action against Motown legend Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson, adding their allegations of sexual assault against the singer to a $50-million lawsuit filed earlier this year.

The women who sued the spouses in May for sexual assault and failure to pay overtime filed a motion last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to amend their initial complaint to include new claims from a fifth housekeeper and a man who detailed the couple’s cars. They both alleged separate incidents of Robinson grabbing their hands to touch his erect penis while they were working at his Chatsworth residence.

Robinson’s attorney Christopher Frost dismissed the latest round of allegations in a statement shared with multiple outlets but did not immediately respond to a Los Angeles Times request for comment Thursday. Frost said the two accusers — identified in court documents as Jane Doe 5 and John Doe 1 — are part of “the same group of people who have conspired together against the Robinsons and are laying out their claims for maximum adverse publicity.”

Frost, who previously dismissed the original May complaint as an “ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon,” remained firm in those views. “This group of people, who hide behind anonymity, and their attorneys seek global publicity while making the ugliest of false allegations,” Frost told TMZ.

The plaintiffs’ motion outlined the proposed changes for the amended complaint, describing the alleged sexual assault that Jane Doe 5 and John Doe 1 faced during their tenure. Jane Doe 5 is described as a housekeeper who worked for the Robinsons in 2005 until 2011. She took a leave of absence because of a work-related injury but returned around 2007.

According to the motion, Jane Doe 5 says the singer (real name William Robinson Jr.) often called her from the second-floor bathroom and asked him to scrub his back. The Grammy-winning artist would allegedly turn to face her with an erect penis while he was showering before turning again for her to scrub his back. She alleges that on more than 10 occasions, he grabbed her hand in an attempt to force her to touch his erection. She “would strongly resist by forcibly pushing his hands away, and would escape from the bathroom,” the motion said.

Allegedly, Robinson often walked around the house naked and would rub his elbow against Jane Doe 5’s chest. This prompted her to get a breast reduction in 2015, years after she stopped working for the celebrity spouses. She claims the singer propositioned her for sex numerous times, including after declining to rehire her when he suggested she “accompany him to a nearby hotel.”

Jane Doe 5 also seeks legal action against Frances Robinson, whom she accuses of perpetuating “a hostile work environment.” She alleges Frances blamed her for getting injured while cleaning the home’s chimney and told her to keep working despite it. Jane Doe 5 accused Frances of failing to take “appropriate corrective action” to prevent her husband’s alleged sexual misconduct and echoes previous claims that Frances screamed at employees and “used ethnically pejorative words and language.”

She also repeats previous allegations that the spouses, who married in 2022, failed to pay minimum wage or overtime, echoing claims mentioned in the original lawsuit.

The motion described John Doe 1 as a more recent employee, who was hired in 2013 to detail the couple’s cars and other related services. He was subject to Smokey Robinson’s “sexually harassing conduct” shortly after he began working for the couple, the motion alleged. John Doe 1 said the singer would often appear at his workplace outside the home wearing only underwear and “would then touch and fondle his erect penis” in “plain view.” The artist allegedly made suggestive gestures and remarks, including beckoning John Doe 1 to join him in an “interior room” by his workspace.

Though John Doe 1 rejected the singer’s repeated advances and urged him to “put some clothes on,” in 2022 the musician grabbed his accuser’s hand and attempted to put it on his erection, the motion said. John Doe 1 “immediately withdrew, turned away and left.”

He claims the Robinsons ended his services shortly after the incident, but about a year later, they requested that he return. Smokey Robinson allegedly continued appearing “partially clothed, touching himself” and making sexually suggestive remarks, the motion said. John Doe 1 “experienced humiliation, emotional distress and ongoing fear for his safety and dignity.” He ultimately stopped working for the singer and his wife after learning of similar allegations from former employees.

John Doe 1 is not seeking action on wage-related counts but rather for claims including sexual battery, assault, gender violence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

A hearing for the motion is set for Jan. 6, and a trial for October 2027.