Two men who accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them when they were children can continue their lawsuits against companies owned by the singer, who died in 2009, an appeals court has ruled. of California on Friday.
The men, Wade Robson, 40, and James Safechuck, 45, allege that Mr. Jackson sexually abused them for years and that employees of two companies — MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc. — are accomplices, acting as his “co-conspirators, collaborators, facilitators and alter egos” for the abuse. The lawsuits say the companies’ employees owed a “duty of care” to the boys and failed to take steps to prevent abuse.
The stories of Mr. Robson and Mr. Safechuck was featured in the 2019 HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland,” in which the men accused Mr. Jackson of molesting them and cultivating relationships with their families to gain access to the men’s bodies.
“Everybody wanted to meet Michael or be with Michael,” said Mr. Safechuck in the movie. “He’s bigger than life. And then he likes you.”
The two companies are now owned by the estate of Mr. Jackson, who has repeatedly denied that he abused the boys.
“We remain absolutely confident that Michael is innocent of these allegations, which are contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration, and which were first made years after Michael’s death by men motivated only by money, Jonathan Steinsapir, a lawyer for Mr. Jackson’s estate, said in a statement after the decision.
Vince Finaldi, a lawyer for Mr. safechuck and mr. Robson, said in a statement that the court reversed “the erroneous decisions in these cases, which are contrary to California law and would have set a dangerous precedent that endangered children.”
Mr. filed Robson and Mr. Safechuck filed their lawsuits against the companies in 2013 and 2014, respectively, but both cases were dismissed in 2017 because they exceeded California’s statute of limitations. They reopened in 2020 after a new state law gave plaintiffs in child sexual abuse cases more time to file charges.
In October 2020 and April 2021, the lawsuits were again dismissed when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that the two corporations and their employees were not legally obligated to protect the men from Mr. Jackson.
But on Friday, California’s Second District Court of Appeal ruled that “a corporation that facilitates the sexual abuse of children by one of its employees is not excused from an affirmative duty to protect children that is simply because it belongs solely to the perpetrator of the abuse.”
In a concurring opinion, Justice John Shepard Wiley Jr. said. that for purposes of civil liability, the corporations did the sole bidding of Mr. Jackson, who had a duty to protect Mr. Robson and Mr. Safechuck.
“So are Jackson’s marionettes, because Jackson’s fingers hold every string,” he said, adding, “These corporations can take cost-effective steps to reduce the risk of injury.”
The cases, which were consolidated in the appeals court, will now go back to a trial court.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Robson, who is now a choreographer and director, said Mr. Jackson molested him from age 7 to 14. After meeting Mr. Jackson through a dance competition when he was 5, performed Mr. Robson in his music video and released an album on his record label.
According to his suit, the abuse began in 1990 when Mr. Jackson invited Mr. Robson and his family stay at his Neverland Ranch in California. Mr. Robson and Mr. Jackson slept in the same bed and touched each other’s genitals, according to the suit. For the next seven years, the suit said, they engaged in sexual activities including masturbation and oral sex.
The suit claims that employees of MJJ Productions witnessed the abuse and that employees of both companies took steps to ensure that Mr. Jackson was alone with Mr. Robson and other children.
The lawsuit said Mr. Safechuck said he was one of several children caught “organizing the purchase and facilitation of child sexual abuse” by the companies. According to his suit, Mr. Mr. Safechuck Jackson in filming for a Pepsi commercial in late 1986 or early 1987 and later became a dancer for Mr. Jackson.
Mr. showed Jackson taught a 10-year-old boy how to masturbate while on tour in 1988, according to the suit, and abused Mr. Safechuck hundreds of times over the next four years. Employees of MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures coordinated the visits, according to the suit.
Prior to these lawsuits, Mr. Jackson twice faced criminal investigations into possible sexual abuse of children.
In 1994, the district attorneys for Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Counties decided not to pursue charges that Mr. Jackson had molested three men because the “primary alleged victim” had decided not to testify. Mr. Jackson, who denied any wrongdoing, reached a $20 million civil settlement with the boy’s family.
In 2003, the Santa Barbara County district attorney charged Mr. Jackson of several counts of child molestation and serving alcohol to minors. After a 14-week trial in 2005, a jury acquitted him.