Women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault or say they were harassed while working at his former film studio will be entitled to payments from a nearly $19 million fund being created to compensate them, months after the former Hollywood producer was convicted of sex crimes, the Wall Street Journal reported. Money for the fund is coming from insurance as part of a settlement resolving civil lawsuits including a proposed class action against Weinstein and a separate civil-rights suit brought by the New York attorney general’s office. That lawsuit accuses Weinstein Co.’s former executives and board members of failing to protect employees from a hostile work environment and its namesake chairman’s sexual misconduct. A New York jury in February found Weinstein guilty of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape charges, resulting in a 23-year prison sentence. He faces criminal prosecution on similar allegations in Los Angeles. The settlement deal must be approved by a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Wilmington, Del., where Weinstein Co. is being liquidated. The product of more than a year of on-and-off negotiations, the agreement also requires approval from a federal judge in New York, where the class-action lawsuit was filed.
