Movie star Vin Diesel is being sued by a former assistant for alleged sexual battery.
According to Vanity Fair, Diesel’s accuser, Asta Jonasson, filed a complaint with Los Angeles authorities stating that the Fast & Furious actor forcibly pulled her down on a bed, fondled her breasts and legs and masturbated in an incident at Atlanta’s St. Regis hotel in 2010.
In the lawsuit, Jonasson alleges the actor pulled her “dress up toward her waist, and molested her body, running his hands over Ms. Jonasson’s upper legs, including her inner thighs.” She then ran for the bathroom, where Diesel was said to have pinned her against the wall and masturbated as she verbalized her non consent.
“Terrified, Ms. Jonasson closed her eyes, trying to dissociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him,” the lawsuit claims.
Along with Diesel, his production company, One Race Films, is also named in the suit, which includes claims of intentional emotional distress, hostile work environment, sex/gender discrimination and wrongful termination.
A One Race supervisor is also named in the suit for allegedly requesting her to come to his hotel room before inviting her to bed.
Jonasson — who signed a nondisclosure agreement but only worked at the company for two weeks — says she was originally hired to be Diesel’s assistant while he filmed 2011’s Fast Five in Atlanta. Her suit claims that she was immediately fired just hours after the incident at the St. Regis by the company’s president, Samantha Vincent, Diesel’s sister.
“It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful. Vin Diesel had used her to fulfill his sexual desires, and she had resisted his sexual assaults,” claims the lawsuit. “Ms. Jonasson felt like she was a piece of trash to be discarded.”
The NDA was able to be broken thanks to California’s Speak Out Act, which disallows enforcing NDAs in harassment and sexual assault cases.
At this time neither Diesel nor his company have commented on Jonasson’s lawsuit.
