OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:20 PM – Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Legendary singer and songwriter Smokey Robinson is now facing a series of reputation-damaging allegations, including rape, sexual battery, and false imprisonment — as part of a lawsuit filed by former employees.
The 85-year-old singer, whose real name is William Robinson Jr., is known for producing poetic, emotionally resonant lyrics and smooth melodies. He wrote or co-wrote many hits, not just for himself, but also for other Motown artists.
However, Robinson is now being accused by four women of fostering a hostile work environment. His wife, Frances Robinson, is also named in the lawsuit as well. It was filed on Tuesday in California Superior Court.
Four former female housekeepers allege that Robinson engaged in a pattern of misconduct—ranging from assault to “gender-based violence”—at his Chatsworth, Los Angeles residence over a period spanning from 2007 to 2024.
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $50 million in damages for each of the 11 claims outlined in the 27-page lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.
According to the complaint, Robinson allegedly directed the women to his bedroom or to areas of the home not covered by security cameras, where he would then lay a towel on a bed before sexually assaulting and degrading them.
Additionally, Frances Robinson is being accused of willfully “turning a blind eye” to her husband’s alleged sexual abuse.
One accuser claimed that she would be left alone with Robinson every Saturday while Frances knowingly arranged to go out, being driven to a nail salon to ensure that Smokey had adequate privacy time with her.
In the pleadings, the four plaintiffs who are suing Robinson are only referred to as “Jane Doe,” as they have opted to remain anonymous. Beginning in 2016, one of the plaintiffs claimed that Robinson repeatedly sexually assaulted her at his residence.
“He would summon her to either the laundry room or garage, where there were no cameras,” the lawsuit alleges.
Robinson allegedly raped her at least 23 times “without a condom,” the lawsuit details continue.
According to the lawsuit, he would then threaten her, telling her that his wife would be “mean” to her if she didn’t cooperate. Frances also “used ethnically pejorative words and language” and “perpetuated a hostile work environment by regularly screaming at [her] in a hostile manner.”
In addition, between January 2023 and February 2024, Robinson allegedly sexually abused another former housekeeper “at least seven times,” leading to her being “forced to resign due to repeated sexual assaults.”
In order to “be home alone” with the other maid on Saturdays, she also claimed that Robinson would take his wife to the nail salon and then hurry home to sexually assault her. He allegedly called her to his bedroom, escorted Shilo, his dog, out of the room, locked the door, and then “attacked her” on his bed, “causing her great pain in the process.”
The unnamed housekeeper claimed that although she would try, she was unable to “resist his sexual assaults.”
“You’re married!” she would allegedly yell at the singer in a desperate bid to “get him to leave,” but he would “casually dismiss” this, she continued.
She also claimed that she was forced to leave her job in February 2024 after this happened at least seven times. Toward the end of her employment, the Motown legend and his spouse also allegedly “failed to pay minimum wage or overtime wages,” she added.
The third woman similarly said that Robinson had attacked her when she was working as a housekeeper and corroborated the same alleged pattern of abuse, in which the singer would entice her into his bedroom. According to the lawsuit, she claimed that between 2012 and 2024, Robinson sexually assaulted her at least 20 times and once promised her $500 in exchange for “allowing him to orally copulate her.”
Additionally, Frances is accused by that housekeeper of not “taking the appropriate corrective action to prevent Smokey Robinson’s deviant misconduct.”
His wife “had full knowledge of his prior acts of sexual misconduct, having settled cases with other women that suffered and experienced similar sexual assaults perpetuated by him,” the third woman claimed.
In addition, the fourth complainant further claims that Robinson also assaulted her in his home while she was employed as a housekeeper from 2007 until 2024 — noting that he “never used a condom” throughout the assaults.
Negligence, sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, purposeful infliction of mental distress, gender violence, hostile work environment, and nonpayment of minimum wage are among the allegations that the four complainants claim.
Robinson is currently on tour with his “Legacy Tour,” celebrating the 50th anniversary of his hit 1975 album, “A Quiet Storm.” The tour includes performances across the United States and the United Kingdom.
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