She also claimed in a lawsuit that the company told her to keep quiet about the alleged incident and even neglected to perform a full investigation of the allegations. An Amazon employee has alleged that she was raped by a senior executive during a business trip to New York City .
What was the alleged incident?
The suit filed in state court in Seattle revealed that all of it was paid for by Amazon. Danbom reported the alleged incident to the New York Police Department the next day. The complaint accused police of failing to interview the witnesses Danbom reported the rape to immediately after it occurred, including another Amazon employee.
“In Laura’s hotel room, during the early morning hours, Simonte raped her,” the complaint alleged. “Before the rape started, she said no. She handed the officers a condom Simonte had left behind, the complaint said. During the call, Simonte said he was “200% sure” that they never had sexual intercourse, according to the complaint. Danbom’s attorney Jay Free said that the NYPD refused to refer the case to local prosecutors, and that police said they had exhausted all investigative avenues.
The group went to an Amazon-hosted open bar event that evening, and then continued the gathering at karaoke bars. During the rape, Laura asked him: ‘you realize this is,’ and Simonte finished her sentence saying ‘rape? Yes. He ignored her protests. He raped her. She also submitted a rape kit. Subsequently, a detective monitored a phone call between Danbom and Simonte for a potential confession. However, he contradicted himself in a police interview later, admitting that he was too drunk to remember.
The alleged victim, Laura Danbom, works at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters as a marketing and operations manager for Amazon Web Services. This week, she sued the e-commerce giant for allegedly subjecting her to a hostile work environment and violating Washington State’s Silenced No More Act, per the New York Post. The act protects victims who speak up about workplace assaults from retaliation.
Danbom accused Amazon of closing its investigation without speaking with witnesses who could corroborate her account and “without gathering evidence that was there for the asking,” the complaint stated.
