Overview
- U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera ordered on Wednesday that the four Cascio siblings’ February 2026 child sex trafficking lawsuit be dismissed from federal court and sent to private arbitration under a 2019 settlement.
- The judge found the 2019 Confidential Acquisition and Consulting Agreement contains a binding arbitration clause that covers the dispute and concluded the 2021 Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act does not apply retroactively.
- The Cascio plaintiffs say the agreement was coerced and seek to void it, but Judge Vera said those unconscionability challenges must be raised first to an arbitrator rather than a jury.
- The Jackson estate denies the allegations and has called the suit a money grab, while the siblings’ lawyer said the family had hoped for a public trial and will now press their claims in confidential arbitration.
- The ruling follows a similar March order sending a related Frank Cascio case to arbitration and highlights how preexisting settlement clauses can keep high-profile historical abuse claims out of public view.