NARAS Seeks Dismissal From Former Employee's Negligence Suit

SANTA MONICA, CA —The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Inc. is seeking to be removed from a lawsuit by a woman who alleges the organization was negligent in not preventing sexual harassment she says she suffered from a former executive while working as the Los Angeles chapter executive director.

Plaintiff Terri McIntyre alleges in her Santa Monica Superior Court suit that after she was hired in early 1994, she was subjected to pervasive sexual harassment, battery and assault by the organization's then-CEO and president, Mike Greene. She further contends Greene and others in management "covered up the crimes and offenses, not only those crimes against her, but crimes against other young and vulnerable women."

But in court papers filed Friday with Judge H. Jay Ford III, academy attorneys urge that the part of the case against the organization be dismissed and judgment entered in its favors. The pleadings cite numerous defenses, including that McIntyre consented to Greene's conduct and that her claims are in violation of the statute of limitations.

The academy lawyers also maintain McIntyre's "ancient allegations" infringe on the organization's right to due process and that her claim for punitive damages also is constitutionally unavailable.

According to her lawsuit filed Dec. 12, McIntyre, thrilled at the time to get her job, did not know that she would eventually need to quit in order to "escape the pervasive, incessant and routine sexual harassment and/or sexual assault perpetrated by Greene."

McIntyre previously released a statement regarding her alleged experiences.

"I was drugged, sexually assaulted and subject to constant workplace abuse and harassment by the CEO of the Recording Academy during my two years of employment," she said. "His criminal, disgusting and deviant actions were devastating and soul-crushing. As a young, single mother pursuing what, until then, was a promising career in the music industry, I had nowhere to turn and received no help from the Recording Academy. "

McIntyre said she faced intolerable circumstances daily and was forced to leave her job and lose any prospect of having a future career in the music industry. She also contends she was offered significant settlements to "silence and coerce me to sign non-disclosure agreements, which would forever protect Mike Greene and the Recording Academy from the crimes he and they committed against me."

Greene, credited with transforming the Grammy Awards into a global television event, resigned in 2002. Greene, then 52, had been the subject of an internal investigation into allegations he sexually harassed female employees, according to a statement released by the academy at the time that also said he was cleared of wrongdoing.