Recording Academy, ex CEO Mike Greene sued for sexual assault of former employee Terri McIntyre

Mike Greene, former Recording Academy CEO, has been sued for sexual battery and assault of a former executive of the Los Angeles chapter.

Terri McIntyre, who served as the Academy's LA chapter executive director from 1994 to 1996, filed a civil lawsuit against Greene and the Recording Academy in Los Angeles Wednesday. In the lawsuit, she alleges multiple instances of sexual assault, harassment and the organization's alleged negligence and failure to prevent further harassment based on her sex and gender.

Greene served as the Recording Academy CEO until 2002 when he stepped down amid other allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment. An internal investigation by the Academy cleared him of any wrongdoing, the Los Angeles Times reported amid his departure.

"In light of pending litigation, the Academy declines to comment on these allegations, which occurred nearly 30 years ago," the Recording Academy said in a statement Thursday to USA TODAY. "Today’s Recording Academy has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual misconduct and we will remain steadfast in that commitment."

In McIntyre's lawsuit, obtained by USA TODAY, she alleges Greene repeatedly told her when she started her job there that she needed to perform sexual acts to "get ahead" and threatened her future in the music business if she didn't comply.

The former executive alleged that in May 1994 Greene drugged and assaulted her for the first time during an afterparty in his hotel room at the end of the Academy's annual trustees meeting in Hawaii.

After drinking a glass of champagne Greene provided McIntyre, she says she "began to feel unwell and began to lose control of her physical movements." Other guests allegedly left the room and her "last memory prior to waking up was being alone," the lawsuit states.

McIntyre alleges that she woke up the next morning naked next to the former Grammy chief, who was also undressed. Upon leaving the room, she recalled "feeling confused, repulsed, violated, soiled, shaken, and ashamed" after she determined that she had experienced assault, the lawsuit says.

After returning to Los Angeles, McIntyre says she sought mental health care and a professional encouraged her to report the alleged incident to police. As a young, single mother, McIntyre says she did not file a report out of fear.

"Greene was a wealthy, powerful, and prominent figure," the lawsuit states, adding that she felt "any report she made would effectively end her career."

McIntyre alleges in the lawsuit that Greene also sexually assaulted her at his home in Malibu, forcing her to perform oral sex ahead of a meeting the two were attending at Pepperdine University.

"I was drugged, sexually assaulted and subject to constant workplace abuse and harassment by the CEO of the Recording Academy during my two years of employment. His criminal, disgusting and deviant actions were devastating and soul-crushing. As a young, single mother pursuing what, until then, was a promising career in the music industry, I had nowhere to turn and received no help from the Recording Academy," McIntyre said in a statement provided to USA TODAY. "Instead, the intolerable circumstances I faced on a daily basis forced me to leave my job and any prospect of continuing a career in the music industry.  From whom and what I know, I believe many other women were similarly victimized by Mike Greene and, by proxy, the Recording Academy."

She added: "Mike Greene lied, of course, and the Recording Academy covered up his crimes. They tried to buy my silence, but I refused. Several years later, after I gave lengthy testimony in what became a sham internal investigation and even greater cover-up of his crimes against me and other women, they tried to buy my silence again." McIntyre, however, says she did not sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Throughout the lawsuit, she also details other alleged instances of Greene groping her during office interactions.

McIntyre also claims that there was no human resources department at the time. Despite bringing up the allegations to superiors, she said she was just given a new supervisor with no repercussions for Greene.

The former Academy employee filed her lawsuit under California's Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act (AB 2777), which allows victims of sexual assault on or after Jan. 1, 2009, to file civil claims until Dec. 31, 2026, that otherwise were past the statute of limitations. The legislation has also allowed a one-year period for claims of sexual assault involving cover-ups to be filed from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

New York's Adult Survivors Act, which expired last month, also gave victims of sexual abuse a one-year window for claims that would otherwise be barred by time limits.

As a result, an avalanche of complaints and lawsuits were filed in the final days before the deadline, with figures including Sean "Diddy" Combs and his former Bad Boy president Harve Pierre, Jamie Foxx, Axl Rose, Russell Brand, Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine, music executive L.A. Reid, Cuba Gooding Jr. and more sued for sexual assault ahead of the deadline.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org).

Adult Survivors Act:Why so many sexual assault lawsuits have been filed under New York law