Amazon Executive Sues Company Alleging Rape and Cover-Up
A lawsuit filed in Seattle claims the tech giant failed to properly investigate an alleged assault and attempted to silence the victim, violating state law.
An Amazon executive has filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court alleging she was raped by a senior manager during a company event and subsequently silenced by the company when she attempted to seek action. The civil complaint, filed Tuesday, names Laura Danbom, 39, a former marketing manager at Amazon's Seattle headquarters, as the plaintiff.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged incident occurred in 2023 during a company-funded trip to New York. Danbom attended an event with colleagues, including senior manager Michelangelo Simonte. Following an open bar and a karaoke session, Simonte allegedly pressured Danbom to go to his hotel room. The complaint states that Danbom declined, but Simonte later entered her hotel room and proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her against her will. The lawsuit asserts that Danbom explicitly said "no" and that Simonte acknowledged her protestations, saying, "rape? Yes," before continuing.
Danbom reported the alleged assault to the police the same day, undergoing a rape kit examination and providing a condom as evidence. The lawsuit claims the New York Police Department did not collect a DNA sample from Simonte for comparison and instructed Danbom to attempt to elicit a confession from him. During a police interview, Simonte reportedly stated he was "200 per cent sure" no sexual intercourse occurred but later told detectives he was too intoxicated to recall the events.
Two days after the alleged assault, Danbom reported the incident to Amazon's Human Resources department. An internal investigation was conducted, concluding several months later that the claim could not be "substantiated" due to a lack of evidence. Danbom's attorneys argue in the complaint that Amazon's investigation was "rushed" and "shoddy," failing to interview witnesses Danbom had confided in after the alleged attack. The lawsuit contends that Danbom's account to police and friends immediately following the incident was consistent and constituted a "wealth of evidence" that Amazon disregarded.
The lawsuit further alleges that Amazon required Danbom to continue working with Simonte and stay silent about the alleged attack if she wished to retain her job. Amazon reportedly stated it would only reopen its investigation if Simonte faced criminal charges. Danbom, who has since moved to a different department within Amazon, claims that being forced to avoid Simonte has impeded her career progression.
Danbom alleges that she informed HR via email that encountering Simonte in meetings made her "unwell" and caused her to lose sleep. The lawsuit states that Danbom remained at Amazon hoping for change but realized the company would not act unless compelled. Danbom told the Daily Mail, "I just really hope that I can empower women to speak up. Because it’s so important that we bring these things to light."
The suit accuses Amazon of violating Washington's Silenced No More Act, which prohibits employers from preventing employees from discussing illegal workplace conduct, and of creating a hostile work environment. The complaint also suggests Simonte had a "history of troubling conduct towards women," which Amazon allegedly failed to address.
Danbom is seeking damages for lost wages and a jury trial. Simonte is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. An Amazon spokesperson told the Seattle Times that the company investigates misconduct thoroughly and takes action against policy violations, stating, "We take any allegation of this nature extremely seriously, and we have zero tolerance for workplace sexual misconduct or violence of any kind."