{"id":379052,"date":"2026-10-22T00:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/379052\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T00:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:18:12","slug":"amazon-employee-files-explosive-lawsuit-claiming-senior-executive-raped-her-on-nyc-business-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/379052\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon employee files explosive lawsuit claiming senior executive raped her on NYC business trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Amazon employee claimed she was raped by a senior executive during a business trip to New York City \u2014 and that the company told her to keep quiet about it as it neglected to perform a full investigation of the allegations, according to an explosive lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Laura Danbom, who works at Amazon\u2019s <\/a>Seattle headquarters as a marketing and operations manager for Amazon Web Services, sued the e-commerce giant this week for allegedly subjecting her to a hostile work environment and for violating Washington State\u2019s Silenced No More Act, which protects victims who speak up about workplace assaults from retaliation.<\/p>\n

Amazon executive Laura Danbom, seen in a photo from her complaint, claims senior executive Michelangelo Simonte raped her on a business trip. King County Superior Court Clerk<\/p>\n

The alleged rape took place on Oct. 27, 2023 when Danbom traveled to New York with a group of colleagues including Michelangelo Simonte, a top-performing advertising executive in her division who was based in Madrid, according to the complaint filed Tuesday.<\/p>\n

That evening, the group attended an Amazon-hosted open bar event and continued the gathering at karaoke bars \u2013 all paid for by Amazon, according to the suit filed in state court in Seattle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early in the evening, Danbom and Simonte, who continues to work for Amazon at its Madrid offices, \u201cflirted,\u201d \u201cjoked\u201d and \u201cgot along,\u201d according to the complaint. At the end of the night, Simonte \u201ckissed her,\u201d and \u201cpersuaded Laura\u201d to let him accompany her to her hotel room, the complaint said.<\/p>\n

Danborn was staying at the Hyatt Place at 140 W. 24th St. in Manhattan\u2019s trendy Chelsea neighborhood, according to a representative for the plaintiff. It was there that things took a wrong turn, the suit said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Laura\u2019s hotel room, during the early morning hours, Simonte raped her,\u201d the complaint alleged. \u201cBefore the rape started, she said no. During the rape, Laura asked him: \u2018you realize this is,\u2019 and Simonte finished her sentence saying \u2018rape? Yes.\u2019 He ignored her protests. He raped her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next day, she reported the incident to the New York Police Department<\/a>, handing the officers a condom Simonte had left behind and submitting to a rape kit, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

During a phone call between Danbom and Simonte that a detective monitored for a potential confession, Simonte said he was \u201c200% sure\u201d that they never had sexual intercourse, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Amazon was accused of asking \u201d inappropriate and re-traumatizing questions\u201d about Danbom\u2019s allegations against Simonte, seen in a photo from her complaint. King County Superior Court Clerk<\/p>\n

Later, he contradicted himself in a police interview, saying he was too drunk to remember, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Simonte did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

The NYPD declined to refer the case to local prosecutors, said Danbom\u2019s attorney Jay Free, adding that police said they had exhausted all investigative avenues. The complaint alleges that cops failed to interview the witnesses Danbom reported the rape to immediately after it occurred, including another Amazon employee. The Post has sought comment from the NYPD.<\/p>\n

Two days after the alleged incident, Danbom informed Amazon\u2019s human resources department. She also told a number of friends and her therapist about her experience, according the suit.<\/p>\n

Amazon investigated the allegations, putting Simonte on a monthslong leave of absence, Danbom told The Post, but ultimately decided that he did not violate its policy.<\/p>\n

Amazon claimed Danbom\u2019s account of what happened was \u201cunfounded due to lack of evidence,\u201d and amounted to a \u201che said, she said\u201d situation, according to the filing.<\/p>\n

Danbom alleges that Amazon closed its investigation without speaking with witnesses who could corroborate her account and \u201cwithout gathering evidence that was there for the asking,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Laura Danbom submitted to a rape kit in New York City. King County Superior Court Clerk<\/p>\n

It also claimed that during Amazon\u2019s investigation, the company \u201casked inappropriate and re-traumatizing questions that suggested Laura did not do enough to stop the attack, including challenging Laura on whether she yelled \u2018no,’\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the rape began, she said no. No means no,\u201d the suit added. \u201cThis is shameful questioning by a leading employer in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company said it would reopen the case if New York prosecutors brought charges against Simonte, according to the suit. In addition, the company instructed Danbom \u201cnot to speak about Simonte\u2019s rape at work saying the allegation was \u2018highly confidential,\u2019\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt prevented me from warning other women who might interact with him at events,\u201d Danbom told The Post.<\/p>\n

Danbom was told that her role would not change at Amazon and that she would be required to \u201cwork with Simonte directly, by phone, by email and in remote meetings,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n

Laura Danbom with members of her family, seen in a photo from her complaint. King County Superior Court Clerk<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take any allegation of this nature extremely seriously, and we have zero tolerance for workplace sexual misconduct or violence of any kind. We thoroughly investigate each report we receive and take appropriate action, up to and including termination, against those who are found to have violated our policies,\u201d Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have robust policies and trained investigators in place to ensure each concern is heard and addressed with the proper care. While we don\u2019t have more to share about the specifics of this pending litigation at this time, we continue to follow our rigorous processes and to hold all employees to the same high standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danbom told The Post she took two leaves of absence following the incident. After 10 job applications within Amazon, she was transferred in 2024 to a different position where she would not interact with Simonte, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really an escape,\u201d she told The Post. \u201cThe position was a lateral move. I was on a path for a promotion and had to walk away from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint is seeking \u201clost wages, including front and backpay, lost bonuses and other benefits of employment, in an amount to be proven at trial.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Amazon employee claimed she was raped by a senior executive during a business trip to New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[586,288,3100,9,11,10,3018,5161],"class_list":["post-379052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-amazon","tag-business","tag-lawsuit","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-rape","tag-sexual-assaults"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}