57 Victims, Thus Far, Accusing Peter Nygard of Rape, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking with Complicity by Multiple Nygard Corporate Officers
NEW YORK – June 11, 2020 – Attorneys representing the victims of fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s sexual abuse and sex trafficking conspiracies filed a Second Amended Class Action Complaint yesterday on behalf of 57 women who have come forward and with claims corroborating a decades-long sex trafficking conspiracy among Nygard, the Nygard corporate entities, and myriad Nygard corporate officers and directors. Several of the new plaintiffs were underage when Nygard sexually assaulted them, including two as young as 14. Others described that Nygard attempted to bribe or intimidate them after the sexual assault.
“The evidence is overwhelming. These brave survivors have recounted so many accounts of sexual abuse and each of their stories corroborates a pattern of sex trafficking that Peter Nygard and dozens of accomplices perpetrated for decades.” said Greg Gutzler, co-counsel for the victims and a partner at DiCello Levitt Gutzler. “Not only have we spoken to dozens of survivors, but we have also interviewed additional witnesses from the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas, who are finally coming forward with the truth after decades of complicit silence. Nygard’s paid public relations team keeps repeating the same, worn and implausible conspiracy theory, accusing 57 survivors from five decades and across at least four different countries, of all being liars. The likelihood of dozens of women, spanning five decades and four countries, coming forward and telling strikingly similar stories of sexual abuse, as part of some massive conspiracy against Nygard, is zero. Each of these accounts has been verified and corroborated by independent evidence. And Nygard has a long, well-documented history of attacking those who come bring claims against him.
The Second Amended Complaint, filed by Gutzler, Amy Keller, Mark DiCello, Adam Levitt, and Justin Hawal of DiCello Levitt Gutzler, along with Lisa Haba of The Haba Law Firm, details how a series of Nygard corporate entities and their upper-level employees spent decades financing and facilitating sex trafficking and sexual abuse. According to the Second Amended Complaint, Nygard lured many of his victims to offices and properties owned by his corporate entities in New York City, Los Angeles, Winnipeg, and Toronto with false promises of modeling and other career opportunities with his companies. The Nygard corporate entities are also named as defendants in the Second Amended Complaint.
While Nygard has previously, and on multiple occasions, been accused of rape and sexual misconduct in recent years, the Second Amended Complaint alleges that he managed to evade accountability for more than five decades through violence, intimidation, bribery, and payoffs in order to silence his victims and continue his scheme. Nygard used his considerable influence in the fashion industry, the resources of his companies, his power through corruption of officials, including the police, and a network of company employees under his direction, to groom and lure his victims.
“We have received a mountain of evidence, all of it corroborates a decades-long, international sex trafficking ring, comprised of Nygard and dozens of accomplices” Haba, a partner at The Haba Law Firm said. “In my years of being a prosecutor and now a civil human trafficking attorney, I have never seen such a widespread scheme to hurt so many innocent people. It’s time for society to stop enabling powerful and influential people from preying on and harming the less fortunate. We stand with the survivors and state that all people deserve freedom from abuse and justice for their abusers.”
The facts highlighted in the Second Amended Class Action Complaint come from hundreds of credible witnesses who have come forward, including victims and former employees of Nygard and the Nygard corporate entities. The victims and witnesses, including those who were in Nygard’s inner circle, all corroborate the knowledge and complicity of dozens of individuals in Nygard’s expansive sex trafficking ring.
The case is Jane Does Nos. 1-57 v. Peter J. Nygard, et.al. Case No. 1:20-cv-01288-ER in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A copy of the amended complaint is available here and attorneys for the plaintiffs are available for comment upon request.
For more information, visit https://dicellolevitt.com/nygard-lawsuit/
About DiCello Levitt Gutzler LLC
DiCello Levitt combines excellence in commercial litigation, class action litigation, mass tort litigation, catastrophic injury litigation, medical malpractice litigation, and civil rights litigation. Practicing nationwide—and internationally—from offices in Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and St. Louis, we are an aggressive, attentive, and creative plaintiffs’ firm whose work speaks for itself—billions of dollars in recoveries in some of the highest-profile matters in U.S. history. Revered by clients and respected by defense counsel, our team gets results.
About The Haba Law Firm, P.A.
The Haba Law Firm is an upscale boutique law firm in the heart of Orlando, Florida, that provides excellence in civil litigation, criminal law, real estate litigation and family law. Haba Law prides itself on its aggressive and effective representation, honesty, and trauma-informed, victim centered advocacy. The unparalleled knowledge and experience with human trafficking and sexual abuse has resulted in Lisa Haba receiving numerous awards and recognitions for her work with survivors of human trafficking and sexual abuse.