James Brown Off the Hook
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has cleared James Brown of sexual harassment charges against a former female employee, but ruled the soul belter's company must still face the music for wrongfully terminating her.
Lisa Ross Agbalaya, a 36-year-old former model and mother of three who served as the West Coast president of James Brown Enterprises, sued the legendary singer for $1 million, accusing him of harassing her and making unwanted sexual advances when she visited his home in Augusta, Georgia, in 1999.
The suit, filed in May 2000, claimed, " 'Sex Machine' is more than simply a title to one of James Brown's many hit records; it would also appear to be a description of James Brown the man."
Agbalaya testified that Brown put the moves on her during a business trip to his home in Georgia, grabbing her by the hips and pulling her close to him. After she rejected his overtures, Agbalaya said Brown fired her in retaliation by shuttering his California offices where she'd been employed for seven years.
During the week-long trial, the 68-year-old Brown testified he never laid a hand on Agbalaya and that he only let her go after money troubles forced him to close his West Coast office.
"She's a married woman and I wouldn't do that," he told the jury.
Brown also suggested that he was being targeted because of his celebrity status. To that end, his lawyers called several employees to the stand who swore Brown never was alone with Agbalaya, despite her claims to the contrary.
The jury's split decision means the Hardest Working Man in Show Business is still liable for $40,000 in damages for unjustly firing her. But it wasn't be nearly as bad as the damages he would have faced had he lost on the sexual harassment charge.
Following the ruling, Brown's elated attorney, Debra Opri, said her client felt vindicated from what she termed a "frivolous" lawsuit by a greedy "groupie."
"We won...I am very pleased to state that the jury agreed with our perspective," she told reporters outside the courtroom, adding that "frivolous lawsuits cost a lot of money."
Opri also phoned Brown at his home in South Carolina to give him the good news. "Godfather. Congratulations, sir. God bless you, sir. You were right," Opri told him. Brown was apparently ready to get up and do his thing. "He was overcome with emotion," Opri said.
Opri also vowed to appeal the wrongful-termination ruling.
As for the visibly disappointed Agbalaya, she said, "The bottom line is I know what James Brown did and he knows what he did. We can get as many witnesses to say whatever, but he knows, and I know. And that's what's important."
Brown has faced his share of legal hassles over the years. Just months after Agbalaya filed suit, onetime Brown backup singer Lisa Rushton filed her own sexual-harassment lawsuit alleging the soul-shaking singer couldn't keep his hot pants to himself. She claims that, beginning in 1994, Brown began propositioning her for sex. When she refused, he purportedly scaled back the number of her songs and slashed her pay. The case is pending.
Brown served a three-year sentence for assault and weapons convictions in 1988, he was sued in 1998 by a woman who accused him of holding her hostage, and, that same year, he spent 90 days in court-ordered rehab after sheriff's deputies found marijuana and unlicensed guns at his house.
(Originally published 2/19/02 at 2:45 p.m. PT)
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