American actor and producer Vin Diesel has been sued for sexually molesting his former assistant.
According to the law suit that was filed in Los Angeles, the incident occurred in September 2010, at St. Regis hotel in Atlanta, during the shooting of Fast Five.
The complainant, Asta Jonassen, accused Diesel of forcefully pulling her on bed, groping her breasts and legs and masturbating. She also sued him for discrimination on the bases of sex/gender, intentional infliction of emotional distress, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, and retaliation.
Diesel’s company, One Race, had hired Asta to assist the actor with location during the shooting of fast five that was released in 2011.
She was however fired shortly after the hotel incident, barely weeks into her employment.
In the suits, it is alleged that on the fateful night, Asta was asked to wait in Diesel’s suit as he entertained women he had come with from a club. Once the guests had left, the actor allegedly “grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed.”
She was able to escape his grip and waited by the front door for him to leave. Vin Diesel however approached her again, kissing and groping her breasts.
“Ms. Jonasson was afraid to more forcibly refuse her supervisor, knowing that getting him out of that room was both crucial to her personal safety and job security. But this hope died when Vin Diesel dropped to his knees, pushed Ms. Jonasson’s dress up toward her waist, and molested her body, running his hands over Ms. Jonasson’s upper legs, including her inner thighs,” the law suit states.
The complainant was forced to flee the room when Diesel pulled down her innerwear and ran to the bathroom but the actor is said to have pursued her, “where he pinned her to the wall, placing her hand on his erect penis, even as she verbally refused. He masturbated, the suit alleges, while “terrified, Ms. Jonasson closed her eyes, trying to dissociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him,” a news outlet reported.
This was however the second incident that the complainant was experiencing at One Race company.
Days earlier, another supervisor called her to his room where he undressed, lied on the bed and called her to join him but she left the room.
Vin Diesel’s Attorney Brayan Freedman has however shut down the allegations of his client molesting the former assistant.
“Let me be very clear: Vin 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. There is clear evidence which completely refutes these outlandish allegations,” he said.
