A Greek billionaire businessman is being sued by a comedy writer who alleges he kissed her against her will and exposed himself in the workplace.
The woman filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Alki David and two of his companies, Alki David Productions and Hologram USA Inc.
“The wealthy, just like any other individual, must not subject their staff to sexual harassment, nor sexually assault them,” the suit states.
The suit’s allegations include sexual battery, employment discrimination/sexual harassment and wrongful constructive termination. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A representative for Hologram USA did not immediately reply to an email sent Thursday for comment.
The suit states that the woman, now 33, met with David in March and presented her idea for a show that involved the use of holograms. David like her proposal and hired her for the project, the suit states.
A month later, the woman was given the new title of head of comedy and put in charge of luring comedians to David’s hologram theater, the suit states.
The plaintiff was seated at work in April when David walked up and “put his hand on her throat and pushed her in the chair until it banged against the wall and she hit her head,” the suit states.
The plaintiff “stared at (David) in shock,” according to her complaint.
The woman was in the company of a comedian in April when David again walked up and put one hand around her throat and demanded that the plaintiff “look into my eyes,” the suit alleges.
After the comic comforted the plaintiff and asked David to explain his behavior, the billionaire replied that he was “bullied as a child” and walked away, the suit states.
Later that month, David told the plaintiff that his wife had left him for another woman, the suit states. He then inquired about the plaintiff’s sex life and whether “she had ever been with a woman,” according to the complaint.
“Defendant David then asked (the plaintiff) if she wanted to have sex with him,” the suit states.
The plaintiff replied that she did not want to be intimate with David, who responded, “just so you know, you could have sex with me whenever you want,” the suit alleges.
In May, David walked out of one of his offices naked in front of the woman and made an inappropriate remark, the suit states.
“(The plaintiff) was not only humiliated, but repulsed,” the suit states.
In June, David used a belt to slap the woman on the buttocks in front of a Hologram USA executive, who told him to stop his behavior, the suit states.
“Oh come on, she likes it,” David replied, according to the lawsuit.
That same month, David asked the plaintiff if she was interested in having a “threesome” with him and a woman he saw at Universal Studios during work on a hologram project for “The Voice,” the suit alleges.
The plaintiff declined and left the taping, the suit states.
In July, David sent the woman a video of himself on Snapchat depicting him “prancing around totally naked on what looks to be a rooftop,” the suit states.
David returned in September from an extended absence, the suit states, Behind a closed office door in which he claimed he wanted to be updated on a new show, he “began kissing (the plaintiff) on the neck and her lips,” the suit states.
The woman resisted, but David later told her, “You’re coming with me after the show and going to my apartment at the Montage hotel,” the suit states.
Unable to deal with David’s alleged belief that as the CEO of the companies he was “untouchable and could act with impunity,” the plaintiff was forced to quit, the suit states.
The plaintiff believes David has “subjected other females to similar unlawful behavior and to similar unconsented batteries,” the suit states.
