A Los Angeles judge has dismissed the defamation counterclaims against former employees suing Smokey Robinson for sexual abuse. The decision was made in a ruling that there was insufficient evidence to hold Robinson's former anonymous housekeepers and their lawyers liable for calling the singer a rapist at a press conference. The defamation claims, which are subject to a higher pleading standard due to free speech laws, were only allowed to proceed if public figure was proven to have acted with "actual malice" when they made a statement that was false. Robinson still has separate counterclaimes pending against the housekeepers for allegedly deleting evidence and stealing from his family. The legal battle began in May when four unnamed women filed a $50 million lawsuit alleging that Robinson had sexually abused them.