Cuba Gooding Jr. is facing two new lawsuits related to separate groping incidents that date back to 2018 and 2019.
The suits were filed Wednesday, November 22, under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act, which was enacted on Thanksgiving Day in 2022 and provided plaintiffs a one-year window to submit civil claims of sexual assault that otherwise would not meet the statute of limitations.
In one suit, according to The Los Angeles Times, an unnamed plaintiff alleges that Gooding forced his tongue down her throat while she was on duty as a waitress at LAVO nightclub in New York. Gooding pleaded guilty last year to a lesser charge of criminal forcible touching in connection with the same incident.
In the second suit, per the Times, a woman named Kelsey Harbert alleges Gooding touched her thighs and breast after she approached a table where he was seated with his girlfriend and joined the couple to talk. Harbert states in the suit that the conduct made her feel “like a piece of meat.” Gooding also previously pleaded guilty to a lesser criminal charge related to that incident, admitting to “non-consensual physical contact.”
The plea deal Gooding struck in the criminal trial for both incidents allowed him to escape jail time, instead requiring six months of counseling. In a statement provided to Deadline, Gloria Allred, the plaintiffs’ attorney in the new lawsuits, said: “Our clients were deprived of the justice they sought in the criminal case. They are now seeking justice and accountability in their civil cases. We are proud of their courage and intend to vigorously fight for them until they win the justice that they deserve.”
Both women are seeking unspecified damages for assault and battery; emotional, physical and mental distress; lost wages; and attorney’s fees.
The suits are just the latest in a string of sex abuse claims the Oscar-winning actor has faced over the last few years. In June, he reached a settlement with a woman who had accused him of raping her twice in a Soho hotel room in 2013. And as the criminal groping trial unfolded in 2020, dozens of women came forward with stories of unwanted touching by Gooding; eventually, the list of accusers reached 30.
Us Weekly has reached out to Gooding’s lawyer for comment.
