Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery in a lawsuit from a former assistant, according to legal documents obtained by TheWrap.
The civil action, filed Thursday in Los Angeles, alleges the “Fast & Furious” star forcibly groped and molested former staffer and plaintiff Asta Jonasson during production on “Fast Five” in the fall of 2010.
Jonasson was hired by Diesel’s production company, One Race, to assist the actor on location in Atlanta during the action film’s shooting, with the suit describing her responsibilities as organizing parties and attending events with Diesel.
Diesel’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement the allegations were untrue.
“Let me be very clear: Vin Diesel categorically denies this claim in its entirety,” the statement said. “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.”
According to the suit, Jonasson was instructed to wait in Diesel’s St. Regis hotel suite one night in Sept. 2010 as Diesel entertained hostesses from a club. Upon their exit, Diesel grabbed Jonasson’s wrists and “pulled her onto the bed” and Jonasson asked him to stop and freed herself to the door of the suite, per the suit, hoping to maintain her “personal safety” and “job security” by getting him to exit the room.
Instead of leaving, Diesel approached her again and groped her breasts despite Jonasson’s request to stop. He then “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,” according to the suit. Jonasson screamed and ran down the hallway before Diesel pinned her against a wall and forced her to touch his genitals.
Just hours later, the suit alleges Jonasson was fired from her job less than two weeks after starting. Samantha Vincent, Diesel’s sister and One Race president, called Jonasson to deliver the news.
“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,” the suit reads, noting that following the incident, Jonasson’s “esteem was demolished, and she questioned her own skills and whether a successful career would require her to trade her body for advancement.”
In addition to sexual battery, the suit, which lists its defendants as Diesel, Vincent as well as One Race Productions, contains allegations of discrimination on the bases of sex/gender, intentional infliction of emotional distress, hostile work environment, wrongful termination and retaliation, among others. It also reveals an additional incident of sexual harassment from a One Race supervisor and alleges the defendants of covering up the events.
Jonasson’s silence until now was guaranteed by a nondisclosure agreement she signed when agreeing to her employment by One Race. The suit notes her claims were made possible by the Speak Out Act, which protects victims of sexual assault and harassment against enforcement of nondisclosure agreements, as well as a California stature that waives statutes of limitations on sexual abuse allegations that occured in 2009 or later.
The lawsuit was first reported by Vanity Fair.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
