The golden-voiced Motown legend Smokey Robinson, 85, has been accused of doing something antithetical to the love songs and smooth harmony that became a musical paradigm and business model for an era. For all the music Robinson was making on the inside, four former housekeepers who worked there say there was a darker, more jarring song playing out within the walls of his Chatsworth, California mansion.
Harris & Hayden Law Firm claims they are seeking justice and compensation for a "decades-long history of Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson's employment abuse, fraud and tax evasion." The women, whom the lawsuit identifies as Jane Does, allege a combination of sexual battery, false imprisonment, assault, gender violence, and a hostile work environment.
The most chilling details that one reads in deeply personal stories that" you think you've heard the details of already are about the repeated sexual misconduct that some say spanned a decade. Jane Doe 1 alleges she was sexually assaulted at least seven times between March 2023 and February 2024. One of those incidents, she claims, involved Robinson cornering her in a bedroom and groping her against her will, as she told agents in her original interview in Vietnam.
Jane Doe 2's allegations are even older because she claims 23 separate attacks from 2016 to 2020, alleging Robinson lured her to parts of her home that were not covered by security cameras. What's perhaps most disturbing is her assertion that he even told her not to ignore his advances lest his wife punish her for doing so.
Then there's Jane Doe 3, whose case involves Robinson raping her more than 20 times from 2012 through 2024. She even claims there was one time when Robinson offered her $500 to have sex with him, something she says she declined.
The suit doesn't end with Smokey and Frances Robinson; his wife is also listed, and the allegations state she was not only aware of the alleged harassment but had previously settled similar claims. They claim she did not shield them and helped foster a toxic, abusive work culture. They also accuse her of wage theft, denial of breaks, and the use of racially derogatory language toward the women, who are all Hispanic.
"These are low-wage workers who are desperate and vulnerable," said John Harris, a lawyer who filed suit there. "They didn't have the power or the options to protect themselves from years of abuse. We are convinced that Mr. Robinson is a serial and depraved rapist who needs to be put behind bars."
The women are suing for damages of $50 million over mental anguish, lost wages, and ongoing psychological harm. This is not a celebrity lawsuit but a story about power and vulnerability and what can happen when the people who live in the shadows have gone unheard of for too long. For now, the music world holds its breath, reeling, as one of its most recognizable voices confronts the darkest stanzas of his legacy.
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