A woman who claims Jason Derulo sexually harassed and aggressively berated her after signing her to a recording deal in 2021 can’t revive her lawsuit in California after it was dismissed on a technicality last April, a judge ruled Monday.
At a court hearing Friday, a lawyer for aspiring singer Emaza Gibson tried in vain to win reversal of the prior ruling that found Gibson had no standing to sue in California because she signed artist agreements with clauses requiring all legal disputes be confined to New York courts. Gibson’s lawyer claimed in recent filings that his attempts to refile the case in Manhattan led him to conclude it’s “impossible” for his client to pursue her sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation claims there.
“Plaintiff’s inability to litigate her claims in the forum specified within the contract invalidates the entirety of the forum selection clause,” lawyer Ron Zambrano wrote to the court leading up to Friday’s hearing. He claimed that because Gibson is not a citizen of New York, she can’t bring five of her nine claims there. For that reason, “enforcement of the forum selection clause is unreasonable and unfair,” he wrote.
At the Friday hearing, Zambrano argued that Gibson had a California-based employment relationship with Derulo “outside” of her artist agreements and therefore had a right to pursue alleged violations of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, known as FEHA. “I will die on this hill,” Zambrano told the court during the hearing. The judge said he had no plans to “issue any death certificates” and kept the debate going.
“There is no employment relationship,” Derulo’s lawyer Camilo Echavarria countered. “These were merely contracts and agreements to produce a record for Ms. Gibson. It was not to employ her in some way. It was merely to, as they do in the industry all time, create a recording.”
The judge ultimately sided with Derulo. But at Zambrano’s request, he agreed to change the language of his tentative ruling and be more “sensitive” to the question of whether any employment relationship may have existed, in the event a New York judge might allow Gibson to pursue a California FEHA claim in New York. “I don’t see why employment issues could not be adjudicated in New York,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kerry Bensinger said from the bench on Friday.
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In her lawsuit filed last year, Gibson alleged that Derulo lured her into what seemed like a dream recording deal and then pressured her to party as he allegedly made “explicit” demands for sex. She alleged he stopped working with her and breached their contract when she spurned his advances. She claims her deal was terminated without explanation on Sept. 6, 2022.
“This is super devastating for me. This is something I always wanted to do since I was a little girl. Jason was one of my favorite artists on the pop scene. I accept this amazing offer only to find out the person I looked up to would put me through such a traumatic situation,” Gibson previously told Rolling Stone.
“We are fully committed to defending Jason’s innocence against these blatantly false and baseless claims. If these false accusations are refiled in New York, we are confident that the New York court will ultimately dismiss the case and prove Jason’s innocence. The court was correct in dismissing the lawsuit in California,” Derulo’s legal team said in a statement to Rolling Stone last April.
In a video statement posted on his Instagram after Gibson first filed her lawsuit, Derulo called the claims “completely false and hurtful.” The musician said he stood “against all forms of harassment” and remained “committed to supporting people following their dreams.”
“I’ve always strived to live my life in a positively impactful way, and that’s why I sit here before you deeply offended by these defamatory claims,” he said.
