A woman suingHarvey Weinsteinfor rape as part of a new class action lawsuit claims she has video evidence of the disgraced mogul harassing her during a business meeting.
Melissa Thompson claims that she had a meeting with Weinstein in September 2011 during which she pitched her tech company’s video platform, according to the class action complaint filed in the southern district of New York.
As she pitched the product, Thompson says in the court filing, Weinstein began to harass and fondle her. After making initial small talk, she claims Weinstein asked if he was “allowed to flirt.” Thompson responded, according to the complaint, “We’ll see. A little bit,” feeling “cornered, as if she had to play along to not blow the pitch.”
At one point, Weinstein allegedly “reached down and began caressing her leg and moving his hand under her dress,” causing Thompson to feel “panicked,” according to the complaint.
Still hoping to secure a deal with a powerful client, Thompson claims she agreed to a followup meeting later that day with Weinstein at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. She says they met in Weinstein’s hotel room, where he attempted to force himself on her. Thompson says she was able to escape to the bathroom, but when she came out, Weinstein was naked from the waist down.
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
After Weinstein tried and failed to force her to perform oral sex on him, Thompson says in the complaint that he pushed her on the bed, raped her and then acted as if nothing had happened. Thompson says she was left feeling “dirty and ashamed.”
Years later in 2017, Thompson claims a friend suggested she contact attorney Benjamin Brafman to take Weinstein to court over the alleged rape. In the complaint, Thompson says she spoke with attorney Alex Spiro, who she believed worked for Brafman, and shared information, including the video, about the alleged assault.
Thompson says she later experienced “severe emotional distress” upon learning that Brafman was in fact representing Weinstein.
“This firm has never represented Melissa Thompson and I personally never met with her or any of the other women named in the lawsuit,” Brafman tells PEOPLE in a statement.
Spiro also provided a statement, saying, “Inever have and I never would represent Harvey Weinstein, I left the Brafman firm well before Brafman ever represented Weinstein, and, in fact, I represent one of the key victims, but Ms. Thompson has never been a client.” Spiro is representingAmbra Battilana, one of the first women to publicly accuse Weinstein of sexual assault, a source tells PEOPLE.
“This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.
He added, “We remind everyone that an Indictment is merely a formal accusation. Mr. Weinstein intends to enter a plea of Not Guilty and vigorously defend against these unsupported allegations that he strongly denies. We will soon formally move to dismiss the indictment and if this case actually proceeds to trial, we expect Mr Weinstein to be acquitted.”
source: people.com
