Los Angeles, United States

More than three dozen women have filed a sexual misconduct lawsuit in New York alleging that writer and director James Toback is a "serial sexual predator", who has assaulted many innocent women over the decades. They claimed that the Oscar-nominated writer-director targeted and abused women who were looking for work in Hollywood and often promised to cast them in films.

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In the lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan on Monday, 38 plaintiffs have been listed. About 15 women have agreed to be identified by their names, while others are identified as "Jane Doe". 

The Harvard Club of New York City, the place where Toback allegedly "lured" several of these women, is also named as a defendant.

The lawsuit comes a month after New York state instituted a one-year window for people to file lawsuits over sexual assault claims even if they took place decades ago, waiving statutes of limitations.

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Accusations against Toback surfaced in late 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained attention.

In 2018, Los Angeles prosecutors stated the statutes of limitations had expired in five cases they reviewed, and they declined to bring criminal charges against Toback.

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Information on attorneys or representatives for Toback was not available; he has denied the allegations made against him.

Toback secured an Oscar nomination for writing 1991′s 'Bugsy'. He has been a part of Hollywood for more than 40 years.

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