Lawsuit accusing T.I., Tiny Harris of assault dismissed by judge
U.S. District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett on Thursday granted a motion from the rapper and singer — whose real names are Clifford Harris Jr. and Tameka Harris, respectively — to dismiss the case, according to a court filing reviewed by USA TODAY on Friday. However, the judge has allowed for the alleged victim, referred to as Jane Doe, to file an amended complaint as her team requested last month.
Doe’s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 2, alleged that after meeting the couple in the VIP section of a nightclub, she was given a spiked drink and then brought back to their hotel room, where T.I. and Tiny “forced her to get naked” and sexually assaulted her. T.I. and Tiny Harris have denied the woman’s claims.
“The court agreed with Tip and Tameka that Jane Doe doesn’t appear to have any viable claims,” a representative for the couple told the outlet AllHipHop. “As Tip and Tameka stated three years ago, these allegations are some of the many false, salacious allegations thrown out into the media in a cheap attempt to extort money from them.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Doe’s attorneys for comment.
Why Jane Doe’s lawsuit against T.I., Tiny was dismissed without prejudice
At the end of March, the couple had the case moved to California federal court.
T.I. and Tiny sought dismissal of Doe’s lawsuit in June “on the grounds that (her) claims are time-barred and that she fails to allege facts sufficient to state any claim,” per the judge’s order. The couple’s lawyers wrote in their motion to dismiss that the statute of limitations for Doe’s claims expired more than 16 years prior, and “at best, Plaintiff had up to December 31, 2007, to file the instant lawsuit based on the facts alleged” in her complaint.
Judge Garnett also called out Doe’s attorneys for not following court protocol. The defense in July filed requests to amend the initial complaint, which was not allowed at that point in the judicial process. According to Garnett, they were required to file an opposition to the defendants’ motion to dismiss.
“Because Plaintiff requests leave to amend, however, and because it is not clear that amendment would be futile, the Court grants Plaintiff leave to amend.” Doe’s lawyers have 21 days to file an amended complaint; if they do not do so, the case will be dismissed permanently.
T.I. and Tiny Harris have faced multiple allegations of drugging, sexual assault
Doe’s lawsuit was filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which allowed civil suits in cases of sexual assault that were beyond the statute of limitations where “one or more entities are legally responsible for damages and the entity or their agents engaged in a ‘cover up.'”
The act allowed for lawsuits to be filed through the end of 2023, or the end of 2026 for assaults that occurred since 2009.
The accusations against the famous couple echoed those made during a reported 2021 police investigation, in which The New York Times reported police were investigating a 2005 incident involving “a military veteran” who claimed that the couple had “raped her in a hotel room” after she was drugged while drinking with them in the VIP section of an LA club.
More than a dozen women came forward in 2021 with claims including drugging, sex trafficking and rape. None of the accusers shared their names in the lawsuits.
