Weinstein victims to share $17 million

Women who claim disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually abused them are entitled to $500,000 each in damages—or less, depending on the severity of the alleged crime. A bankruptcy judge approved the settlement between the women and the Weinstein Co. on Tuesday. The agreement sets up a $17 million compensation fund and a point system to determine how much each claimant receives. It assigns more points for physical abuse than emotional. A claims examiner can increase or decrease points depending on victims’ ages, corroborating evidence, the statute of limitations, and other factors.

Is that fair? Thirty-nine of 55 women with claims against Weinstein voted for the agreement, which requires them to drop other legal action against him and former company officials to receive 100 percent of their payment. Opponents of the settlement said it was not right to ask the women to never sue Weinstein again in order to get the money. Weinstein is serving a 23-year prison sentence for sexual assault in New York.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Emily Belz’s report on how dysfunction in the movie industry contributed to a culture of sexual abuse.