UPDATE: Just after a judge rejected John Travolta's request to proceed with the sexual assault lawsuit against him in arbitration, The Hollywood Reporter reports that on Monday, the parties agreed to drop the case.
PREVIOUSLY: A cruise ship employee who claims John Travolta sexually assaulted him will have his day in court.
TMZ reports that a federal judge shut down arguments from the actor's attorneys that the lawsuit brought against him by cruise ship steward Fabian Zanzi be settled through arbitration. On Friday, the judge ruled that there's no evidence that Zanzi is bound by the arbitration agreement between Travolta and Royal Caribbean Cruises.
Zanzi filed his lawsuit against the actor in June, claiming that in 2009 Travolta ordered food and asked that Zanzi deliver it to his stateroom. When Zanzi was in the room, the actor allegedly asked for a neck massage, and then exposed his erect penis and forcefully embraced him. In his suit, Zanzi claims that Travolta offered to pay him $12,000 to keep quiet about the alleged incident.
Travolta has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, but now that the lawsuit will be heard in open court, it's possible that the actor's lawyers will choose to settle quickly, to avoid the publicity the trial would bring.
Travolta has not commented on the case, but his lawyer previously told E! News in a statement that Zanzi's allegations were "ludicrous" and "completely contradicted" by what the employee told the company back in 2009.