Judge dismisses Ashley Judd’s harassment case against Weinstein

Actress Ashley Judd's sexual harassment lawsuit against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been dismissed by a Los Angeles federal court.

Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled on Wednesday that Judd's allegations did not fall within the scope of the statute under which she had sued.

But Gutierrez ruled that Judd could move forward with her defamation case against Weinstein, in which she claims he derailed her career after she denied his alleged sexual advances in the 1990s.

In her lawsuit, filed in April 2018, Judd accused Weinstein of smearing her reputation by discouraging director Peter Jackson from casting her in his blockbuster movie franchise The Lord of the Rings.

Weinstein denies all allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation.

Judd's sexual harassment lawsuit was re-filed following a change in California state law after her initial claim was rejected by Judge Gutierrez last September.

She alleges she rejected unwanted advances from him and he then tried to wreck her career.

But in a statement late on Wednesday, Judge Gutierrez said the law that deals with sexual misconduct claims in professional relationships, which was revised to include directors and producers, could not be applied retrospectively to Judd's case.

Weinstein's lawyer, Phyllis Kupferstein, welcomed the judge's decision.

"We have said from the beginning that this claim was unjustified, and we are pleased that the court saw it as we did," she said in a statement, adding: "We believe that we will ultimately prevail on her remaining claims."

However, Judd's claim that the Oscar-winning producer "blackballed" her after she refused his advances would still be heard, Judge Gutierrez said.

That part of her lawsuit states that "Weinstein used his power in the entertainment industry to damage Judd's reputation and limit her ability to find work".

He said that Weinstein had warned him that the actress was a "nightmare" to work with.

Weinstein, however, said he had no role in Jackson's casting and denied trying to derail Judd's career.

The producer still faces a separate, criminal case involving five allegations of sexual assault, including rape. His lawyers have argued that civil cases should not be heard until the criminal investigation is concluded.

Judd, one of the first women in October 2017 to publicly accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, had accused the Hollywood movie mogul of sexual harassment in violation of a California law barring such conduct by a person in a “business, service or professional relationship” with another.