“Girls Do Porn” Trial Begins Today in Southern California

Posted August 19th, 2019.

Click here to read the plaintiffs’ trial brief

22 Women Seeking Damages of More Than $22 Million

August 19, 2019, San Diego, CA – The 22 female plaintiffs from across the U.S. suing GirlsDoPorn.com and its owners, operators and associated businesses will have their long-awaited first day in court on today.

The bench trial before Hon. Kevin Enright in San Diego Superior Court will begin with hearings on procedural motions followed by opening statements. Several dozen witnesses including plaintiffs, other victims, experts, and defendants are scheduled to give testimony in the matter, originally filed in June 2016.

“We are eager to get this trial underway and concluded so the young women who were victimized by GirlsDoPorn.com can secure the compensation and vindication they need to begin healing and rebuilding their lives,” said , the California Managing Partner of Sanford Heisler Sharp and one of the lawyers on the plaintiffs’ legal team. “This long, drawn-out ordeal has taken a terrible toll on many of them.”

In addition to Chapin, the plaintiffs are represented by Holm Law Group’s Managing Partner Brian M. Holm and Stokes O’Brien partner John O’Brien.

“Defendants have spent a fortune doing everything they can do to delay this trial, even filing a frivolous bankruptcy petition for which they were sanctioned $110,000 by the bankruptcy court,” said Holm. “After three years of hard-fought litigation, our clients are thankful to finally get their day in court.”

Recent media coverage of the women’s plight has highlighted the serious psychological, emotional, and reputational damage they have suffered since being victimized by the website’s pornographic modeling scheme, including thoughts of suicide as well as abject humiliation and isolation from their families and friends.

The nearly two dozen young women – whose names have been protected by filing as “Jane Does” – allege they were exploited and defrauded by the defendants after responding to misleading Craigslist ads seeking models for clothed modeling.   Once the women responded, defendants changed their tune, now claiming the job was an adult gig.  Once on the phone, defendants began their fraudulent sales pitch.  Defendants claimed they would pay $5,000 if the women flew to San Diego to film an adult film.  Defendants claimed they were an Australian company, and that the women would remain completely anonymous because the videos they produced would be sold on DVDs in Australia and New Zealand.  To further help sell these lies, Defendants employed a team of “references” – young women paid and coached by the defendants to assure the victims they would remain anonymous, that the videos would never be published online, and that no one they knew had seen their own videos.   In reality, Defendants and many of the paid references knew they would be publishing the videos on many of the top trafficked websites in the world (PornHub, YouPorn and xVideos) where Defendants videos have been viewed over 1 billion times.

About Sanford Heisler Sharp

Sanford Heisler Sharp is a public interest class-action litigation law firm with offices in Baltimore, MD; New York; Washington, D.C; Nashville; San Francisco, and San Diego. Our attorneys have graduated from the nation’s top law schools, clerked for judges throughout the United States, and amassed extensive experience litigating and trying cases that have earned more than one billion dollars for our clients.

The firm specializes in civil rights and general public interest cases, representing plaintiffs with claims of employment discrimination, sexual violence, labor and wage violations, predatory lending, consumer fraud, and whistleblowing, among other claims. Along with a focus on class actions, the firm also represents individuals and has achieved extraordinary success in the representation of executives and attorneys in employment disputes.

For more information, visit www.sanfordheisler.com or call 646-791-4848 or email [email protected]. For the latest news, visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @sanfordheisler.

About Holm Law Group, PC

Holm Law Group represents victims of elder abuse, catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and fraud, and has recovered millions for victims and their families.  Extensive experience in these specialized areas of law makes Holm Law Group the perfect firm for other attorneys to refer cases to or co-counsel with.  Holm Law Group represents victims throughout Southern California. For more information visit www.holmlawgroup.com or call 858-707-5858 or email [email protected].

About Stokes O’Brien

Stokes O’Brien, LLP is a San Diego-based litigation firm, representing individuals and businesses, which specializes in business disputes including fraud, breach of contract, real estate disputes, shareholder/partner disputes, injuries on another’s property, trade secret theft, and financial elder abuse. For more information visit http://www.stokesobrien.com or call 619-696-0017 or email [email protected].