Cuba Gooding Jr. has been in some hot trouble legally as of recent. At the tail-end of 2019, the actor was accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women. Despite the claims and an upcoming trial, he continued to party, raising the eyebrows of many. He ran into more trouble for showing up late to court and was also accused of sexually assaulting a woman back in 2013 at a hotel.
Most recently for Gooding, he has just lost a lawsuit filed against him back in October 2019 by a bartender who accused the actor of pinching her butt. According to reports on a new court ruling, Natasha Ashworth has won a default judgment against Gooding Jr. after he failed to respond to her lawsuit for over a year.
Ashworth sued Gooding in 2019 after she claimed that while she was serving him at Tao Downtown Nightclub in New York, he repeatedly tried to grope her behind. The Academy Award-winner then failed to respond to Ashworth's complaint for more than a year, pushing her to request a default judgment against him in January.
The 53-year-old actor also allegedly never hired a civil attorney to defend the suit, and to date, no court papers nor any lawyers have been filed or listed on his behalf. A Manhatten Supreme Court Justice granted Ashworth's request last Wednesday (June 2) against Gooding on claims of assault and battery, but not on the claim of infliction of emotional distress. He also added that the case should be set for trial to determine the damages that Ashworth should be awarded.
Gooding's defense attorney Mark Heller said that, "the claim is baseless and the judgment is worthless.” As mentioned briefly before, Gooding has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 30 women. He has also been criminally charged on six misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching from three different accusers.
Gooding has denied all allegations.
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