In a landmark decision, a New York jury has ordered Oscar-nominated director James Toback to pay $1.68 billion to a group of 40 women who accused him of decades of sexual abuse. The announcement on Wednesday marks one of the largest jury awards in both the history of New York and since the beginning of the #MeToo movement. According to NBC New York, Brad Beckworth of Nix Patterson LLP stated that the award includes $280 million in compensatory damages and $1.4 billion in punitive damages.
The case, filed in Manhattan in 2022, exploits a one-year window provided by New York state which allows individuals to submit lawsuits over sexual assault claims regardless of when they occurred. Toback's accusers alleged a pattern of luring young women under the guise of offering them film roles, then subjecting them to sexual acts, threats, and psychological abuse. "This verdict is about justice," Beckworth explained, "But more importantly, It’s about taking power back from the abusers — and their and enablers — and returning it to those he tried to control and silence," as noted by NBC New York.
According to a New York Post report, actress Mary Monahan, a lead plaintiff in the case, regarded the jury award as “validation." Monahan told the Post, “For decades, I carried this trauma in silence, and today, a jury believed me. Believed us. That changes everything.” Toback, who most recently represented himself, continually denied the allegations, claiming “any sexual encounter or contact between Plaintiffs and Defendant was consensual.”
Despite his vehement denials and assertions that medical issues made it “biologically impossible” to commit the alleged abuses, Toback failed to respond to requests for comment left at his email address following the verdict. The repercussions of the jury’s decision are emblematic of an ongoing societal shift toward holding individuals accountable for abusing their power. The massive financial penalty, which attorney Herb Subin pointed out as being five times larger than the compensation award, indicates a collective desire to fiercely punish and deter future misconduct toward women.
Illustrating the harrowing breadth of Toback's alleged abuses, hundreds of additional women have since come forward with their own experiences. Among them are prominent actresses like “Hellboy” star Selma Blair and “Still Alice” Oscar-winner Julianne Moore, who previously divulged Toback’s inappropriate approach from decades past on social media.
