Boyd Tinsley, who played violin in the Dave Matthews Band for more than 25 years, has been accused of sexual misconduct by a musician he worked with in a side project.
Trumpet player James Frost-Winn, who played in Tinsley’s band Crystal Garden in 2015 and 2016, filed a lawsuit in Washington state on Thursday.
He is accusing Tinsley, 54, of “sexually flirting with verbal sexual comments, physically touching [and] sexting,” “sexually predatory harassment” and “creepy, sex-based behavior” during his time in the band, according to the website Consequence of Sound.
Frost-Winn is seeking $9 million in damages against Tinsley, saying the alleged advances created a “hostile work environment,” according to court documents obtained by USA Today.
As a result, Frost-Winn says, he experienced “loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, and humiliation.”
Frost-Winn said he met Tinsley when he was homeless and busking in San Francisco. The two became friends, and hung out whenever Tinsley was in town.
In 2015, Tinsley asked Frost-Winn to be a part of Crystal Garden. He allegedly began abusing Frost-Winn that November.
Frost-Winn accused Tinsley of ejaculating near him, touching his bottom when he was trying to sleep, and sending text messages where he called Frost-Winn “boner material” and claimed to be masturbating to his photos.
Tinsley did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, but he denied the accusations via Twitter on Friday afternoon:
On Feb. 2, Tinsley announced via Twitter that he was leaving the Dave Matthews Band to focus on his private life.
The same day, Frost-Winn sent Tinsley a letter attempting to reach an out-of-court settlement on the assault and harassment claims, according to Consequence of Sound.
A rep for the Dave Matthews Band told People on Thursday that the band is “shocked by these disturbing allegations and we were not previously aware of them.”