R&B icon Smokey Robinson is facing sexual battery, rape and false imprisonment allegations in in a lawsuit filed by his former employees.
The 85-year-old singer/songwriter and producer is accused of creating a hostile work environment with his wife, Frances Robinson who is also named in the lawsuit.
Four former housekeepers claim the incidents began in 2016 when Robinson was 76 years old. The housekeepers claim the Motown singer would target them in different rooms in his home.
One worker claimed Robinson would text her and tell her to meet him in rooms without cameras.
“He would then summon her to either the laundry room or garage, where there were no cameras,” the lawsuit claims.
The accuser said that Robinson assaulted her at least 23 times, and would then threaten her by saying his wife would be “mean” to her if she didn’t submit to his advances.
Another former housekeeper alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Robinson a month after she began working for him.
She claimed the “Quiet Storm” singer would drive his wife to the nail salon on Saturdays and rush back to the house to “be home alone” with the housekeeper. He would allegedly attack her on his bed, according to the lawsuit.
A third accuser said Robinson raped her at least 20 times, and offered her $500 to “allow him to orally copulate her.”
A fourth housekeeper made similar allegations.
The lawsuit comes just weeks after Robinson released his latest album, What The World Needs Now.
Smokey was 17 years old when he and his group, the Miracles signed a record deal with Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, in 1957.
Smokey was the founder and lead singer of the pioneering Motown R&B group the Miracles. He wrote and produced the group’s hit songs, including “The Tears of a Clown”, “Shop Around”, “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”, “The Tracks of My Tears”, “Going to a Go-Go” and “I Second That Emotion.”
After leaving the group to pursue a solo career, Smokey released the songs “The Agony and the Ecstasy”, “Quiet Storm”, “Ooo Baby Baby”, “Cruisin'”, “Being with You”, and more.
