“Fast & Furious” star Vin Diesel is being accused of sexual battery by a former assistant.
In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Thursday and obtained by USA TODAY, Asta Jonasson alleges that the actor sexually assaulted her the autumn of 2010 in the course of the filming of “Fast Five” in Atlanta.
According to the lawsuit, Jonasson was employed by the actor’s manufacturing firm One Race to work for him in numerous capacities, together with organizing and accompanying Diesel to events and guaranteeing she was close by in photographs if the actor attended occasions with out his longtime girlfriend.
A lawyer from Greenberg Gross, the agency representing Jonasson, stated in an announcement: “We are proud to represent Ms. Jonasson and hold accountable Vin Diesel and those who allowed and covered up his sexual assault. The law exists to protect those who have been wronged, no matter how powerful or famous the defendant is. Sexual harassment in the workplace will never stop if powerful men are protected from accountability.”
Bryan Freedman, a Los Angeles-based lawyer representing Vin Diesel, stated in an announcement that Diesel “categorically denies this claim in its entirety.”
“This is the first he has ever heard about this more than 13-year-old claim made by a purportedly 9-day employee,” Freedman stated within the assertion. “There is clear evidence which completely refutes these outlandish allegations.”
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The allegations state that after a late night in September 2010, Jonasson was asked to wait for Diesel, 56, in his suite at the St. Regis hotel while he entertained hostesses from a club. When the women left, Diesel grabbed Jonasson’s wrists and pulled her onto the bed, according to the lawsuit.
She escaped and asked Diesel to leave, but he allegedly began to grope her breasts, kiss her chest and run his hands along her waist and upper legs, including her inner thighs.
Jonasson was afraid to “forcibly refuse her superior” for her personal safety and job security, but after Diesel moved to pull down her underwear, Jonasson screamed and ran down a hallway.
According to the lawsuit, Diesel pinned her to the wall and placed her hand on his genitals. He masturbated, while “terrified, Ms. Jonasson closed her eyes, attempting to dissociate from the sexual assault and keep away from angering him,” according to the suit.
Hours later, Diesel’s sister and president of One Race Samantha Vincent called Jonasson to fire her after fewer than two weeks on the job, the suit says.
Though Jonasson signed a nondisclosure agreement when she accepted the position, she was able to file the claims because of the Speak Out Act, which prevents the enforcement of nondisclosure agreements in instances of sexual assault and assault and harassment, and California’s AB2777, which temporarily waives statutes of limitations for sexual abuse allegations occurring in 2009 or later.
Jonasson also says in the suit that the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements empowered her to “reclaim her company and justice for the struggling she endured by the hands of Vin Diesel and One Race.”
In addition to his lead role in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, Diesel is also known for his work in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Riddick.”
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