Robert Miller asks court to reveal personal information about his accuser; lawyer says it's 'intimidation'

A lawyer representing dozens of women who alleged they were paid for sex when they were minors by Robert Miller says the Montreal billionaire's defence team is intimidating the complainants.

The accusation comes as two new plaintiffs have joined a class-action lawsuit against Miller, each signing affidavits that alleged they were both 12 years old when they were given envelopes stuffed with cash in exchange for sex with him in the 1970s and 1990s. Miller would have been in his mid-30s.

Jeff Orenstein, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, was in court Thursday to contest a request to disclose the personal information of the lead plaintiff who launched the lawsuit against Miller, the founder of Future Electronics Inc. The class-action lawsuit has not yet been authorized by a judge to proceed.

The allegations in the suit have not yet been tested in court.

Orenstein said he has already disclosed the lead plaintiff's name, but is pushing back against revealing her address and birth date requested by Miller's team.

"It's supposed to be confidential when sexual misconduct victims come forward. Their private information — the case law has held time and time again — should be confidential and should be held in the strictest confidence. So I don't think it should be … be given up," Orenstein told reporters Thursday outside of court.

The lead plaintiff, only identified in court as S.N., alleges she was 17 when she first had sex with Miller, whom she knew as "Bob" at the time.

The businessman's lawyer argued in court they should be allowed to verify her identity and asked for pieces of identification.

"We see this as an intimidation technique that, in fact, the message being sent is if you're going to come forward, that you would have to give up personal details. And I don't think that should be the message," Orenstein said.

"Society is supposed to encourage victims of any sort of abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, whatever it may be — to come forward. And I think it serves a societal purpose. I think it's important. This case is admittedly very specific but I think that is what the case law has said the courts should do and protect people."

Miller has denied the allegations in a written statement released by his company.

On Thursday, his lawyers refused to answer reporters' questions outside the courtroom.

One of the new plaintiffs, identified as "Madame #46" in the new affidavit, alleged Miller had sex with her until she was 17 years old.

"Each time I would meet Mr. Miller to have sex, he would pay me between $200-$1,000 though it started off lower, and I was paid a large sum upon termination," the document claimed.

"Between the years 1978-1982, we had sex approximately 3 times per week."

During her last encounter with Miller, she alleged he paid her $10,000 in cash "to just shut up" when she told him she wanted to end their sexual relationship and raised the idea of revealing their secret encounters to others, the document alleged.

She also claimed she felt humiliated and anxious after things ended, and struggled emotionally with the trauma.

Radio-Canada's Enquête program first revealed the allegations against Miller last February.

Madame #46 wrote that after reading the news reports about him, she felt compelled to come forward, not only to support other alleged victims but also because for years she thought "I was the only victim."

Orenstein said Thursday that 15 plaintiffs have testified in sworn affidavits that "they have a fear of Mr. Miller" and that they are only participating in the lawsuit on the condition that their identity is protected.

With files from CTV News Montreal's Matt Gilmour