L.A. Reid, co-founder of Hitco Entertainment and former executive for labels like Epic Records and Arista Records, is seeking the dismissal of several counts in Drew Dixon’s sexual assault case against him. Dixon, who previously accused Russell Simmons of sexual assault in 2017, filed her claims in November 2023, including sexual battery/assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and gender-motivated violence act.
In court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Reid’s attorneys, Bobbi C. Sternheim and Shawn Holley, are urging the United States District Court in New York to dismiss Counts II and III of Dixon’s complaint, strike certain statutory references in Count I, and seek additional relief considered “just and proper.”
Dixon’s allegations stem from two incidents in January 2001, involving sexual harassment and career sabotage. She is utilizing the New York Adult Survivors Act and the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Act to address time-barred claims, reviving the statute of limitations for certain sexual offenses.
Reid’s legal team contends that Dixon is leveraging these laws to pursue claims of career frustration and disappointment that lack timely or valid causes of action. They argue that she is taking “inappropriate advantage of specially enacted laws as ‘catch-all’ alternatives for causes of action which cannot stand on their own and are too late to assert.”
The first alleged incident occurred on a flight departing from Teterboro Airport in the District of New Jersey, while the second occurred in a chauffeur-driven car in New York City. Reid’s attorneys argue that Dixon was not forced, intimidated, or deceived into participating in either event against her will, and they seek the dismissal of Count II for failure to allege proper venue.
Regarding the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, Reid’s lawyers argue that the alleged behavior, while unprofessional and improper, does not meet the threshold of extreme and outrageous behavior required for such a claim in New York.
Dixon alleges that Reid assaulted her twice in 2001 while she worked at Arista, claiming groping, kissing, and penetration without consent during a company trip and a ride home from an event in New York. She also accuses Reid of hindering her career after the alleged assaults.
