A circuit court judge in Florida dismissed six of the seven claims that were part of a woman’s lawsuit against Andrew and Tristan Tate, including claims that the brothers harassed her and intended to coerce her into sex work.
Judge G. Joseph Curley in Palm Beach County wrote in an order on Thursday that the unidentified woman’s counterclaims against the brothers lacked sufficient evidence, legal grounding and specificity.
He gave the woman and her lawyers 20 days to file a new complaint. The judge let stand a claim of defamation against the brothers.
Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 37, are right-wing influencers who have built a vast online following promoting an antagonistic brand of masculinity. They have offered self-help courses to their followers, promising to help them gain confidence and wealth.
Their views have also attracted widespread criticism, leading some social media platforms to ban their accounts. In recent years, they have been battling accusations in Romania of trafficking women into webcam work to exploit them for financial gain, and of trafficking and rape in Britain.
The brothers have denied all the accusations against them, saying that their popularity and their wealth have made them targets.
In 2023, they brought a defamation suit in Palm Beach County against an unnamed American woman who had given testimony to the authorities in Romania, which led them to arrest the brothers in 2022.
The brothers accused her in the suit of fabricating her testimony to Romanian authorities and conspiring with another woman to have them incarcerated.
In counterclaims filed in February, the woman accused them of luring her to Romania with the intention of trafficking and coercing her into webcam work. She also said the Tates had brought the defamation suit to bully and harass her.
The woman, who was 23 when she filed the suit, was granted anonymity by the court because of concerns over her safety.
Judge Curley addressed her counterclaims, writing that she failed “to sufficiently allege that” the brothers “used force, fraud, or coercion to cause or to attempt to cause Jane Doe to engage in a commercial sex act.”
He wrote that her “allegations of a romantic relationship, travel and business offers” also lacked critical details to show “the specificity of fraud, force or coercion as required” by the law.
Judge Curley added that a claim of emotional distress did not “rise to the level of ‘outrageous conduct’ or ‘severe distress’ as is required under Florida law.”
Dani Pinter, the chief lawyer and director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center, who is representing the woman, said she would submit an amended complaint in line with the court’s instructions.
“While we are disappointed in this order, it is just a step in the process,” Ms. Pinter said.
A lawyer for the brothers, Joseph McBride, called the order a significant legal victory for the brothers, and said that they would continue pursuing their defamation suit. He also said that the case was expected to continue into next year.
In a statement, the Tate brothers said: “This ruling confirms what we have said from day one: These accusations are false, exaggerated, and legally baseless.”
The brothers face accusations in other venues.
A Romanian court last year blocked a first set of charges from going to trial, citing issues in the collection of evidence and the way the Tates were notified about the accusations.
Attorney General James Uthmeier of Florida announced a criminal inquiry several months ago into the brothers. Mr. McBride said his clients have fully cooperated with Florida prosecutors investigating allegations against them.
Four women in Britain are also suing Andrew Tate, claiming that he abused them between 2013 and 2015. Two of them said he raped them. Three of them had previously reported the claims to the police, but the Crown Prosecution Service in Britain declined to take up the case, saying the evidence fell short of its threshold for prosecution.
A woman in California also accused him in a suit in March of sexually abusing her. Mr. Tate called her accusations false, and in August sued her for defamation in response.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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