Cruise worker accuses John Travolta of sex assault
Fabian Zanzi, who said he
was assigned to be Travolta's personal attendant, accused the actor of
"harmful and offensive contact" by "removing his bath robe, grabbing
plaintiff's hand, and forcing his naked person and erect penis against
plaintiff's person," the complaint said.
"This is another
ludicrous lawsuit with inane claims," Travolta lawyer Martin Singer
said. "It is obvious that Mr. Zanzi and his lawyers are looking for
their 15 minutes of fame."
Another lawsuit, filed by
two male massage therapists in April, accused Travolta of sexual
assault at hotels in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Those plaintiffs withdrew
their suit after firing their lawyer and hiring Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred to handle their case. Allred said at the time she was considering refiling their complaints in another court.
Singer called those charges "ridiculous" and denied media reports the actor had considered paying to settle the lawsuit.
Allred new lawyer for Travolta accuser
Lawyer: Why I dropped Travolta case
Zanzi's suit, filed
Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claims the sexual
assault happened on board the Royal Caribbean Cruise ship Enchantment of
the Sea in June 2009.
The actor came on to the
personal room attendant after he delivered food to his room, the suit
said. Travolta complained of a pain in his neck and asked Zanzi to touch
it. As Zanzi approached, Travolta dropped his bathrobe and "became
completely naked," the suit said.
"Travolta proceeded to
forcefully embrace plaintiff," it said, "causing plaintiff to continue
to experience pain, shock, embarrassment, distress and fear."
He then told Zanzi "that
he was beautiful and asked plaintiff to 'take me, I will take care of
you, please,'" the complaint said.
When Zanzi asked to be
released from the embrace, "Travolta maintained a hard and painful grasp
on plaintiff's hands," the suit said.
The suit described the contact as "nonconsensual, inappropriate, extreme, and outrageous."
Travolta offered Zanzi
$12,000 for his "discretion and silence," telling him to return to the
suite later that night to collect the money, the suit said.
Instead, Zanzi -- "in a
state of pain, shock, embarrassment, distress and fear" -- immediately
reported the incident the the ship's director, human resources manager
and a staff captain, the suit said.
The human resources
manager told him to fill out a report, but she "refused to allow
plaintiff to write down any information regarding the nudity and/or
sexual contact" with Travolta, the suit said.
She told him "unless he
was bleeding and bruised, he did not suffer any injuries and thus could
not obtain treatment or any other type of attention," it said.
Instead of taking action
against Travolta, the cruise line ordered Zanzi "restrained" in "a
segregated room" for five days, until Travolta was off the ship, the
suit said.
Zanzi claimed he was
"persistent" in contacting the cruise line to file a claim against
Travolta for the next two years, but he was repeatedly told it was being
filed and to check back later. He has since filed an arbitration claim
against the company, the suit said. A spokesman for the cruise company
declined comment.
Zanzi is seeking unspecified monetary damages to be determined at a trial.
Travolta's lawyer said
the actor is confident he will "prevail on the merits and that he will
be completely vindicated in court."
"The lawsuit's
ridiculous claims are completely contradicted by what Mr. Zanzi told his
employer back in 2009 when he was being disciplined for his own
violations of company policy," Singer said.
"In his handwritten report
three years ago, the only physical contact he claimed occurred was
allegedly touching my client's neck. The inappropriate conduct he
alleges in his lawsuit is absent from his written report he submitted at
the time. That glaring omission speaks volumes."
The fact that Zanzi
continued to work for the cruise line for years after "his employer
supposedly restrained him in a room on the cruise ship for five days"
calls his credibility into question, Singer said.
"Now, after waiting
three years, and after getting paid to tell his story to the media, Mr.
Zanzi has filed this absurd lawsuit," he said.
Zanzi told his story in tabloid reports published in May, soon after the suit was filed by the two massage therapists.
No comments:
Post a Comment