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The
complaint against Combs was among a flurry of lawsuits filed
this week against public figures under New York state's Adult
Survivors Act, ahead of the expiry of a special one-year window
for such complaints. The law allows such lawsuits to be filed in
court even if the statute of limitations have run out.
The lawsuit alleges Combs intentionally drugged and sexually
assaulted Joi Dickerson-Neal, who was a Syracuse University
student visiting New York City at the time of the alleged
incident in January 1991.
Combs is also accused of videotaping the alleged crime and
distributing the tape to others in the music industry.
"The sexual assault, and public exposure of it, caused her to
suffer overwhelming feelings of humiliation, embarrassment,
violation, and constant apprehension about who all viewed it,"
lawyers for Dickerson-Neal wrote in the complaint.
Dickerson-Neal is seeking unspecified compensatory damages for
mental and emotional injury, distress, pain and suffering and
injury to her reputation, according to the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Combs said Dickerson-Neal's story is "made up
and not credible," and that the rapper never assaulted her.
"This is purely a money grab and nothing more," the spokesperson
said in an email.
The complaint against Combs comes a week after he settled a
lawsuit by his former girlfriend, R&B vocalist Cassandra
Ventura, accusing the rapper of serial physical abuse, sexual
slavery and rape. Combs had strongly denied all the allegations.
Combs, 54, founder of Bad Boy Records, is one of the most
influential producers and executives in hip-hop, as well as the
impresario of his own Sean John clothing line.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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