Heather Taylor has refiled her sexual assault lawsuit against Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, citing a new California law that opens a retroactive window for claims previously barred by the statute of limitations. The move comes nearly three years after Taylor voluntarily dismissed her original 2023 complaint, which accused Lee of sexually assaulting her in a helicopter in 2003.
Taylor‘s renewed filing relies on Assembly Bill 250, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025 and effective January 1, 2026. The statute allows adult survivors of sexual assault to bring civil claims against individual perpetrators without having to prove a cover-up or involve a business entity, which Taylor‘s attorneys had identified as a barrier in her original case.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Taylor said, “If anyone thought my prior dismissal was a retreat, they vastly miscalculated my stamina. I dismissed my own case to await this legislation. Now that I have the law in my favor, I’m seeking justice.”
The lawsuit largely mirrors her original complaint. Taylor alleges that she was coerced into a helicopter flight with Lee and pilot David Martz in early 2003. According to her filing, Lee allegedly groped her and attempted sexual assault while Martz watched. Taylor says she was traumatized and too afraid to report the incident at the time. Martz later died in a 2015 plane crash.
Taylor‘s renewed complaint includes claims for sexual battery, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence, and requests unspecified compensatory and punitive damages along with a jury trial. Her attorneys maintain that her allegations are credible and that the assault caused long-term emotional and psychological harm.
Lee‘s lawyers have not yet responded to requests for comment.
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