Courts and Crime blogherads.adq.push(function () ); Michael Jackson Estate Wins Round as Judge Orders Arbitration in Cascio Siblings Trafficking Case The judge ruled that while the siblings’ allegations “are horrific,” the court lacked discretion to hear the case By Nancy Dillon Nancy Dillon Contact Nancy Dillon on X Contact Nancy Dillon by Email Michael Jackson Estate Wins Round as Judge Orders Arbitration in Cascio Siblings Trafficking Case Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner Win Another Round in Ray J Defamation War Nick Reiner Indicted for Alleged Murders of Parents, Prosecutors Cite ‘Lying in Wait’ View all posts by Nancy Dillon August 13, 2026 Michael Jackson on his HIStory world tour in 1996. Phil Dent/Redferns The four adult Cascio siblings who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them on interstate or international trips when they were minors have lost their bid for a public trial of their child sex trafficking claims and must instead go to private arbitration with Jackson’s estate, a federal judge has ruled. In a 10-page ruling obtained by Rolling Stone, U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera granted the estate’s motion to compel arbitration, finding the arbitration agreement included in a 2019 settlement with the siblings was enforceable. The four siblings had argued that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 invalidated the agreement, but the judge said the EFAA didn’t apply retroactively. “Because the arbitration provision was executed before the effective date of the statute, and after the commencement of the parties’ dispute, the EFAA does not apply. Although the allegations are horrific, the court is without discretion to do aught but enforce the language of the arbitration clause,” Judge Vera wrote. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-dsk-tab-article-inbody-uid0' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article","mid","in-article1","mid-article1","inbody","inbody1"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("music\/article\/inbody1") .addSize([[300,250],[620,350],[2,2],[3,3],[2,4],[4,2],[640,250],[6,6],[620,366]]) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; }); “It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that the decision on whether the Cascios were duped into signing an unconscionable agreement with an arbitration clause will be made by an arbitrator rather than a jury of peers,” Cascio family lawyer Howard King said in a statement shared with Rolling Stone. “The family had hoped the court would allow for a public trial over the decades-long molestations of the Cascio siblings by Michael Jackson and the ensuing cover-up by his advisors. Instead, the family will seek justice from the dark confines of a private conference room.” The Jackson estate has vehemently denied the siblings’ claims. Lawyers for the estate did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Thursday. Frank Cascio and his siblings Dominic, Marie-Nicole, and Aldo filed their trafficking lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court last February. They alleged Jackson “groomed and brainwashed” them using his wealth, celebrity status, and network of employees and advisers. According to the complaint, Jackson met the brothers and sister through their father, who worked at a luxury hotel Jackson frequently visited. After gaining the family’s trust with gifts, declarations of affection, and sustained attention, Jackson allegedly isolated the children from responsible adults, plied them with drugs and alcohol, exposed them to pornography, and then abused them individually. blogherads.adq.push(function () { blogherads .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-dsk-tab-article-inbody2-uid1' ) .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article2","mid","in-article2","mid-article","inbody","inbody2"] ) .setTargeting( 'viewable', 'yes' ) .setSubAdUnitPath("music\/article\/inbody2") .addSize([[300,250],[300,251],[620,350],[2,4],[4,2],[3,3],[2,2],[6,6],[620,366]]) .setLazyLoadMultiplier(2) .setClsOptimization("minsize") ; }); Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century “Michael Jackson was a serial child predator who, over the course of more than a decade, drugged, raped, and sexually assaulted each of the plaintiffs, beginning when some were as young as seven or eight,” the 23-page lawsuit said. The filing alleged that the abuse occurred over extended periods in multiple locations worldwide, including during visits when Jackson and his children stayed at the siblings’ family home. “This lawsuit is a desperate money grab by additional members of the Cascio family who have hopped on the bandwagon with their brother Frank, who is already being sued in arbitration for civil extortion. The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct,” Martin Singer, a lawyer for Jackson’s estate, previously told Rolling Stone. “This new court filing is a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies.” Prior to filing the lawsuit, the siblings appeared in a Beverly Hills courthouse last January amid a related effort to void the prior financial settlement with Jackson’s estate that they described as “an unlawful agreement to silence victims of childhood sexual abuse.” That dispute was also ordered to private arbitration. Trending Stories Incarcerated for Life in Trump’s War on the Left Why Was It So Hard for Sam Cooke’s Grandkids to Drop a Soul Album? Taylor Swift Removes Yet Another Song From Yet Another White House TikTok Video GOP Candidate Slammed for Telling Voters to Deal With Gas Prices by Cutting Back on Starbucks The Cascio family previously referred to themselves as Jackson’s “second family” in media interviews. They were among the pop star’s most ardent defenders during his criminal trial, which ended with an acquittal o
