LOS ANGELES – Alkiviades (Alki) David, the billionaire of Greek-Cypriot descent, was ordered by a jury to pay $11 million in the sexual harassment and battery verdict handed down on April 26, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Chasity Jones, 42, a former employee said she was fired after she refused to have sex with the executive when she worked for FilmOn.TV Networks, an online television service, and for Hologram USA, which operates a hologram theater in Hollywood.
A member of the Levendis family, David, 51, founded the company Hologram USA which produces hologram images of deceased celebrities including Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson, among others. The Leventis-David Group made its fortune bottling Coca-Cola and David is also one of the heirs to the fortune.
The Times reported that “during the two-week trial, Jones testified that David inappropriately touched her and showed her a pornographic video on her work computer,” adding that “she also said the defendant brought a male stripper into the workplace to celebrate the birthday of one of his executives” and “she said she found the stripper’s appearance offensive and considered it sexual harassment.”
The jury agreed that Jones, “who was hired in January 2015 and fired in November 2016, was subjected to unwanted sexual harassment and battery,” the Times reported, adding that “she was wrongfully discharged after refusing the executive’s advances,” and “the jury also deemed that workplace management knew or should have known about the harassment and hostile environment but failed to address it.”
David’s attorney, Ellyn Garofalo, released a statement following the verdict, noting that “Mr. David will be filing an appeal to reverse what he believes was an unfair and unjust judgment,” the Times reported.
Earlier in the week, before the verdict was delivered, the dramatic trial had featured an outburst from David during his testimony on April 23. He shouted at Jones’ attorney, Lisa Bloom, and was then led out of the courtroom by a sheriff’s deputy, the Times reported.
NBC4 Los Angeles reported that David shouted, “You are a … liar, you are disgusting,” at Bloom while she was making her presentation in the courtroom.
Following the verdict, Bloom said, “It has been one of the great moments of my life to deliver justice to Chasity Jones, who the jury found was sexually harassed and sexually assaulted by Alki David, and fired from her job for opposing his advances… It took two and a half years for us to get to this point. [This] is a huge verdict for us and for all victims,” the Times reported.
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