Nicholson Sued In Sex Case

Jack Nicholson is being sued by a woman who says the actor attacked her after a sexual tryst at his home in 1996, then quietly paid her a $32,500 settlement the following year.

Catherine Sheehan's lawsuit seeks to have the settlement rescinded, as well as payment of unspecified general and punitive damages and reimbursement of her medical and legal fees.

The lawsuit was filed May 2 in Superior Court. A copy of the action was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Neither Sheehan nor Nicholson could be reached for comment Thursday.

A call placed after business hours to Sheehan's attorney, Robert E. Riemer, was not immediately returned.

A receptionist at the office of Nicholson spokesperson Sandy Bresler said a request for comment would have to be made in writing and faxed to the office. There was no immediate response to the faxed request.

According to the lawsuit, Nicholson allegedly invited Sheehan and a friend to his home on Oct. 12, 1996, offering them $1,000 apiece to wear "little black dresses" and engage in sex acts with him.

After the two complied, and Sheehan asked for their money, "Nicholson became loud and abusive," according to the lawsuit, "demanding to know what plaintiff was talking about, stating that he had never paid anyone for sex as he could get anyone he wanted as a sexual partner."

Later, when she tried to leave, Nicholson grabbed her by the hair, pounded her head on the floor and eventually threw her out of the house, the lawsuit said.