MÖTLEY CRÜE – Sexual harassment lawsuit against drummer TOMMY LEE dismissed… but it’s not over yet

Rolling Stone reports that a California judge dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit against Tommy Lee on Monday, but the lawsuit is ongoing. The judge said the Jane Doe plaintiff now has 20 days to try again with an amended complaint, which will only survive if it contains new alleged facts showing that there was a “concerted effort” to produce evidence conceal that the Mötley Crüe drummer sexually abused her in a helicopter cockpit in 2003.

The judge sided with Lee after the rocker’s attorney argued that the decades-old claims were not eligible for revival under the law that plaintiff Jane Doe used when she filed her original lawsuit last December. The law, known as the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, requires plaintiffs to prove that some type of “legal entity” made a cooperative effort to conceal evidence of their alleged sexual assault. (The one-year “look-back window” for making claims under the Act ended December 31, 2023.)

In his comments to the court, Lee’s attorney argued that Jane Doe wrote in her initial complaint that Lee was already famous for his “lewd and hedonistic behavior” at the time of the alleged helicopter attack. “That would eliminate any possibility of a cover-up. “You can’t gloss over it when the plaintiff claims that this alleged “lewd” behavior was known to everyone,” said Lee’s attorney, A. Sasha Frid.

“The court had its own questions about this,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie responded. “However, this is officially our first look at the brief and we will almost always allow an opportunity to amend.”

In her written ruling, the judge said that the Jane Doe “failed to allege facts supporting the ‘cover-up’ claim.” She also questioned whether the plaintiff will be able to provide the necessary evidence to support it to establish that a legal entity covered up Lee’s actions in 2003. Lee claims his company, Mayhem Touring Inc., was suspended in February 2002. The plaintiff, meanwhile, claims that Mayhem was merely in default, not suspended, so it was still an operational entity at the time of the underlying events.

Read the full report at RollingStone.com.

Mötley Crüe’s new single “Dogs Of War” is out now. The official video for the song, created by director/producer/animator Nick DenBoer, can be viewed below. Behind the scenes footage and an official lyric video are also available.