Damages claim is filed on behalf of woman who worked in the film industry and is expected to exceed £300,000 
 
 The first civil claim against Harvey Weinstein in England and Wales has been lodged by lawyers representing a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by the disgraced Hollywood producer. 
 
 The woman, who worked in the film industry and who wishes to remain anonymous, is represented by a prominent London lawyer, Jill Greenfield, who has previously won significant damages for a client in a civil rape claim. 
 
 Greenfield, who specialises in personal injury, expects the claim to escalate into a group action as Weinstein is facing multiple sexual assault accusations from women on both sides of the Atlantic. He denies any allegations of non-consensual sex. 
 
 The claim has been made against Weinstein, the Weinstein Company UK Ltd and the Weinstein Company LLC in the US at the high court and is listed as damages for personal injury, expenses, consequential loss including aggravated and exemplary damages and interest arising out of a series of sexual assaults inflicted on the claimant by the defendant. 
 
 It also includes a claim against the UK and US companies as liable as employers of the defendant. The claim is expected to exceed £300,000. 
 
 Greenfield, who was instructed by her client less than a month ago, said she had had to act swiftly to protect her client’s ability to bring a claim so many years after the assault. She previously revealed her intention to lodge the claim in an interview with the Guardian. 
 
 Scotland Yard has said it is investigating allegations made last month by seven women against Weinstein, some dating back to the 1980s. 
 
 The woman in the latest claim has not yet made a complaint to the police but is expected to do so. She is said to remain traumatised by the attacks, which allegedly took place after 2000, and has not discussed them with her family. 
 
 In criminal courts, the prosecution has to prove the charges of sexual assault or any other offence to the standard of beyond all reasonable doubt. In civil cases, it is a matter of proving it on the balance of probabilities. 
 
 A spokesperson for Weinstein in the US told the Guardian: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein. Mr Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. 
 
 “Mr Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.” ||||| A civil claim has been filed against Harvey Weinstein in the UK. (Photo: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) 
 
 The Harvey Weinstein scandal continues to unfold. 
 
 The Hollywood producer, who stands accused of sexual assault and harassment by dozens of women, also faces a growing number of lawsuits. 
 
 The latest updates: 
 
 A civil claim of sex trafficking filed in New York 
 
 British actress Kadian Noble filed a civil suit on Monday in New York alleging that Harvey Weinstein forced her into sexual acts while abroad in 2014. Even more damning: The suit, obtained by USA TODAY, claims The Weinstein Company violated federal sex trafficking law "by benefiting from, and knowingly facilitating" Weinstein's foreign business travels in which he would "recruit or entice female actors into forced or coerced sexual encounters on the promise of roles in films or entertainment projects." 
 
 Noble says she was summoned to the producer's hotel room at Cannes Film Festival in 2014 to talk about a role. He began massaging her shoulders and told her to "relax." According to the complaint, Weinstein called an unnamed Weinstein Company producer, who told the actress that she needed to be “a good girl and do whatever (Weinstein) wished,” and if she did, “they would work” with her further. Weinstein then began groping her, pulled her into a bathroom, and forced her to fondle him. 
 
 Noble offered more details of the alleged assault on Tuesday's episode of CBS This Morning. 
 
 "It seemed like it went on forever, and he... completely just touched me inappropriately and (forced) my hand in places," she told CBS News' Jericka Duncan. 
 
 Speaking to her own vulnerability, Noble said Weinstein "was someone that I thought was going to make my dream a reality." 
 
 She said the alleged incident has had lasting effects. 
 
 "I'm not the same person. I've had to have counseling. Just so much. But I've had to keep it to myself. I've kept it to myself," Noble said. 
 
 The suit says Bob Weinstein and The Weinstein Company "knowingly participated in Weinstein's" trips to foreign countries for such purposes. 
 
 “I filed under the Federal sex trafficking law because I believe the facts as alleged in the complaint fit squarely within the statute," Jeff Herman, Noble’s lawyer, told USA TODAY in a statement. "The benefit of filing under this Federal law is that it allows us to bring a claim in the United States for an assault that occurred overseas and it has a 10 year statute of limitations.” 
 
 Noble and her lawyer will hold a news conference in New York on Tuesday. 
 
 Weinstein repeated his denial that anything non-consensual occurred. “Mr. Weinstein denies allegations of non-consensual sex," his representative Holly K. Baird told USA TODAY in a statement. "Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.” 
 
 Weinstein resigns from Directors Guild 
 
 Facing disciplinary action from the Directors Guild of America, Weinstein has announced that he's resigning from the entertainment guild. 
 
 Weinstein confirmed his resignation on Monday and said he has "nothing but the utmost respect for the organization" in a statement sent to USA TODAY by his publicist Holly Baird. 
 
 The Directors Guild broke with its policy of not disclosing internal affairs by announcing it had filed disciplinary charges against Weinstein on Oct. 13. 
 
 "As directors and team members who solve problems for a living, we are committed to eradicating the scourge of sexual harassment on our industry," said president Thomas Schlamme. "Unless we recognize what has become so acceptable in our culture and how we possibly, even unconsciously, are participants, everything else will be meaningless." 
 
 Weinstein has two directorial credits in IMDb: The Gnomes' Great Adventure (1987) and Playing for Keeps (1986). 
 
 A civil claim has been lodged in the U.K. 
 
 The first civil claim against Weinstein for a series of sexual assaults has been filed in the U.K. 
 
 In the claim issued Nov. 23 and obtained by USA TODAY, Weinstein is named as a defendant, along with The Weinstein Company (UK) Limited and The Weinstein Company LLC. 
 
 Personal injury lawyer Jill Greenfield represents the accuser, who previously worked for Weinstein, and has filed applied for an anonymity order on behalf of her client who wishes to remain anonymous. 
 
 The accuser's claim "is for damaged for personal injury, expenses, consequential loss including aggravated and exemplary damages and interest arising out of a series of sexual assaults inflicted" by Weinstein during her employment, according to the claim form. The companies are also listed as the accuser sees they are "vicariously liable." 
 
 "Both the assaults and the psychiatric damage cause to the Claimant were caused by the intentional assault by (Weinstein), the negligence and/or breach of the statutory duty and/or breach of contract of the (companies) and/or their Agents and/or their respective predecessors in title," the claim alleges. 
 
 Reps for Weinstein did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment, but has previously denied any allegations of non-consensual sex in statements through spokeswoman Holly Baird. 
 
 CLOSE Uma Thurman says #metoo. USA TODAY 
 
 In a statement issued to USA TODAY Monday, Greenfield said she expects the claim to exceed £300,000, or roughly $400,000. She also says that the accuser has not filed a complaint with police about the alleged incidents that occurred after the year 2000 but believes she will do so. 
 
 Earlier this month, London’s Metropolitan Police Service, also known as Scotland Yard, confirmed its 12th report against Weinstein received through its Child Abuse and Sexual Offenses Command's Operation Kaguyak investigation. 
 
 Contributing: Andrea Mandell 
 
 If you have ever experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct while working in the entertainment industry, we’d like to hear from you. Send us a secure tip using the instructions at newstips.usatoday.com. 
 
 More: Weinstein aftermath: All the men accused of sexual misconduct 
 
 More: Harvey Weinstein scandal: A complete list of the 80 accusers 
 
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– The range of foul behavior Harvey Weinstein is accused of has now expanded to include sex trafficking. British actress Kadian Noble, who says Weinstein forced her to perform sexual acts in a hotel room during the Cannes film festival in 2014, filed a lawsuit against the disgraced producer, his brother Bob, and the Weinstein Company on Monday. The lawsuit says the company violated federal sex trafficking laws by facilitating Weinstein's foreign travels, during which he would "recruit or entice female actors into forced or coerced sexual encounters on the promise of roles in films or entertainment projects." The suit alleges that a producer at the company told Noble to be "a good girl and do whatever he wished." Jeff Herman, Noble’s lawyer, tells USA Today that he believes the facts of the case make filing under the federal law appropriate. "The benefit of filing under this federal law is that it allows us to bring a claim in the United States for an assault that occurred overseas and it has a 10 year statute of limitations," he says. Another British woman has filed a lawsuit against Weinstein in the UK, accusing him of multiple sexual assaults, the Guardian reports. The woman's lawyer, Jill Greenfield, says that with dozens of women on both sides of the Atlantic accusing Weinstein of sexual assault, the claim could become a group action. (Uma Thurman had a chilling Thanksgiving message for Weinstein.)