A former assistant of Aleki David, a US media tycoon, has sued him for sexual harassment. US jury: “Anyone who attacks cannot escape punishment”
Greek billionaire Alcivadis Alki David will pay $ 58 million in compensation to his former employee, who accused him of sexual harassment.
David’s family owns Coca-Cola Hellenic and heads a number of telecommunications companies, including FilmOn and Hologram USA. His fortune is estimated at $2.6 billion. Mahim Khan, who was David’s assistant in Los Angeles, filed a lawsuit against him in 2014.
Attorney Gloria Allred and her associates said, David regularly has grabbed Khan by the neck simulating oral sex. This happened sometimes even three times a week.
In a court ruling last week, David was required to pay Khan more than $8 million. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Supreme Court deliberated for about an hour before approving Khan’s request for an additional $50 million in damages. In total, David will pay Khan $58.25 million.
In a statement on her behalf, Khan said the court ruling was “a reminder that attackers cannot think they will hurt other people and avoid punishment.” Gloria Allred, Khan’s attorney, said this was one of the most recent compensation payments in history in sexual harassment trials. “In the #MeToo movement, women like Khan are no longer willing to suffer quietly,” she said.
David, who denied sexually harassing Khan, did not appear in court on Tuesday.
At the beginning of the trial, he was denied the right to represent himself, following a series of outbursts in profanities against Khan and her lawyers. He issued a statement to the media in which he said the legal system was “disrupted” and “in an emergency”, claiming the prosecution and witnesses had lied.
51-year-old David was born in Nigeria and educated in a British boarding school. This is not the first sexual harassment lawsuit he has faced in recent years. Yesterday’s ruling comes after he has already paid two women a total of $14 million this year. A third sentence was disqualified.
In a 2017 interview with the Los Angeles Times, David claimed he knowingly cultivated an “evil image” to bolster his status and business. The Greek billionaire has more legal trouble, which concerns streaming services and 3D holograms. Big TV networks have sued him, and a competing technology company is running a trial against him for the technology used to present a hologram in the form of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was assassinated in 1996.
