LOS ANGELES (CNS) — A judge has tentatively decided that Charlie Sheen’s former fiancee, who sued him for allegedly failing to tell her that he’s HIV-positive, must take her case before an arbitrator.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court took the case under submission without issuing a final ruling. On Monday, Feb. 29, she said she wants to further review case law to determine whether Scottine Ross is bound by two separate agreements she had with the actor to resolve any disputes in arbitration.
Ross, also known as Brett Rossi, filed the lawsuit Dec. 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court. She is seeking $1 million and earnings from Sheen’s canceled TV show, “Anger Management.”
Sheen’s lawyers state in court papers that Ross and her lawyers knew when the lawsuit was filed that their client and the 50-year-old actor were bound by an arbitration agreement. Sheen’s lawyers want the judge to dismiss the lawsuit and order arbitration.
But Ross’s lawyers state the arbitration clause their client signed pertained only to her obligation to not disclose a sexual encounter she had with Sheen in November 2013. They also claim the agreement was unlawful because it involved an agreement both Ross and Sheen signed in which he paid the plaintiff $10,000 for sex and that Sheen wanted to prevent disclosure of his criminal conduct.
Stuart Esner, one of Ross’s attorneys, said it is up to a judge, not an arbitrator, to determine whether the agreement between Sheen and Ross was legal. If it was not, the arbitration agreement is not enforceable, Esner said.
But Sheen attorney Martin Singer said Ross also signed a second agreement two years later in which she settled her disputes with Sheen after allegedly threatening to disclose the actor’s medical condition. That agreement also contained an arbitration provision, Singer said.
But Esner said the 2015 pact is not enforceable because Sheen did not sign it.
Ross submitted a sworn statement explaining how she met Sheen.
“I was contacted by a mutual friend who told (the friend) that a high- profile client was interested in having an overnight with me for $10,000,” Ross says. “I knew that an overnight meant engaging in sexual intercourse for money, as this is the term commonly used for these types of situations.”
She says the two had sexual intercourse early in the morning of Nov. 2, 2013.
“I left the residence shortly thereafter with no expectation of ever seeing him again,” Ross says.
However, she says the two later began a “personal romantic relationship during which the battery, abuse and other wrongful conduct that forms the basis for my action occurred.”
Sheen disclosed on NBC’s “Today” show on Nov. 17 that he was diagnosed as HIV-positive about four years ago and said some of those aware of his health status had been demanding money from him to keep the secret.