New Cuba Gooding Jr. accuser says in lawsuit actor raped her in NY hotel in 2013

Accusations of sexual assault churning around Cuba Gooding Jr. moved to federal court on Tuesday after a Jane Doe accuser filed a lawsuit alleging the Oscar-winning actor raped her in a New York hotel in 2013.

The accuser, who is unnamed except for the usual legal euphemism of Jane Doe, alleges that she met Gooding in a restaurant/lounge in Greenwich Village in August 2013 and agreed to go with him and one of her friends for drinks at the Mercer Hotel. 

Before they could all get together at the hotel, she alleges, Gooding lured her out of the restaurant into a cab which drove them to the Mercer where he invited her up to his room while he changed his clothes. She says he blocked her from leaving the room once she was there.

"(Gooding) put on music (Mumford & Sons, to be specific), and took a position between her and the hotel room door," and began undressing, the lawsuit says. Doe stood up from the bed and headed to the door.

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"(Gooding) blocked her from the door and pushed her onto the bed," where he raped her without using a condom and while pinning her arms to the bed, the suit says. He raped her a second time anally, the suit says. 

The accuser says in the suit that after Gooding fell asleep, she went into the bathroom to clean up, and then fled the room quickly in fear of being raped again. She returned to the restaurant to find her friend, then went home.

Mark Heller, one of Gooding's lawyers, called the allegations in the lawsuit “completely false and fraudulent with no basis in fact at all" in a statement to USA TODAY.

Heller said the conduct attributed to Gooding, which never resulted in criminal charges, "never took place and I'm confident the case will be dismissed. It's been seven years and suddenly she comes forward out of the blue?"

The lawsuit asserts that Gooding's alleged actions were intentional and harmful and demonstrate "animus on the basis of gender." The accuser says she has suffered "emotional pain, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life, and other non-pecuniary losses."

She demanded punitive damages because Gooding's alleged conduct was "malicious, willful, outrageous, and conducted with full knowledge of the law."

The accuser, represented by women's rights attorney Gloria Allred among others, filed the suit under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, seeking damages as a "victim of violence committed on the basis of gender, and due, at least in part, to an animus based on gender."

Doe and her lawyers argue that a federal court in the Southern District of New York is the proper venue for a lawsuit involving a city law because she seeks in excess of $75,000 in damages.

Gooding, 52, who won an Oscar in 1997 for his performance in "Jerry Maguire," has seen his career damaged as sexual misconduct and assault allegations against him multiplied over the last year.

He is currently facing trial in state court in New York on misdemeanor charges of groping involving three anonymous accusers who say he forcibly touched them sexually without their consent at bars and restaurants in the city in 2018 and 2019.

Prosecutors in the case also presented a list of 19 other women accusers who say they were similarly groped by Gooding in multiple states during alleged encounters in bars, nightclubs and restaurants dating as far back as 2003. Two of of these other accusers are expected to testify at his trial. along with the three main accusers. 

Gooding, wearing a "Black Lives Matter" face mask, was in court in New York last week for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down court proceedings. The next hearing in the state case is set for Sept. 1.