Billionaire Alki David faces $8.25-million verdict in sexual battery case
The legal woes of controversial British-Greek hologram billionaire Alki David continued to mount on Tuesday after a jury held him liable for battery, sexual battery and sexual harassment against a former employee.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury awarded $8.25 million in damages to Mahim Khan, a former production assistant who worked at David’s media companies, including FilmOn TV and Alki David Productions Inc.
Among the allegations in Khan’s lawsuit, she said that in 2014 David, heir to a Greek Coca-Cola bottling fortune, thrust his pelvic area into her face, simulated oral sex, moaned, zipped up his pants and walked away saying, “Thanks, M.K.”
The ruling is the third verdict this year against David, who has been accused of numerous acts of inappropriate behavior by former employees.
A California jury in April ordered David to pay another employee, Chasity Jones, $11.1 million. She said he fired her after she refused to have sex with him. Jones later agreed to a reduction in compensatory damages by $437,120. Punitive damages remained at $8 million. Last month, a judge ordered David to pay her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, attorney fees totaling $1.34 million.
Last month, a jury found in favor of Lauren Reeves, a former comedy writer at Hologram USA, awarding her $650,000 in compensatory damages and $4.35 million in punitive damages. In 2016, Reeves alleged David put his hands on her throat and pushed her chair into a wall, banging her head, among other claims. According to her suit, David told Reeves that he needed to buy supplies for his “rape room.”
The “eccentric billionaire” Hologram executive has been sued by multiple women for sexual harassment.
In October, a jury deadlocked in former FilmOn account executive Elizabeth Taylor’s case and the judge declared a mistrial. David faces two additional lawsuits; a suit filed in 2016 was settled out of court.
David has disputed the reports of sexual misconduct, saying, “I never touched any of these women.”
The raft of sexual misconduct allegations are not the only legal challenges that David faces. The Securities and Exchange Commission in September charged him and Hologram USA Networks Inc. with fraud, registration violations and misleading investors ahead of a planned initial public offering.
David has denied the allegations, saying he would “vigorously” fight them.
David, who represented himself in the Taylor trial, remained belligerent, defiant and disruptive throughout his multiple trials in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He frequently erupted in profanity-laced outbursts while mocking his accusers and their attorneys, earning him nearly $10,000 in sanctions; he was ejected from the courtroom on several occasions.
This month, the judge in the Khan trial revoked David’s right to represent himself, prompting him to bolt from the courtroom. Last week, he objected to the court’s refusal to review documents he sought to introduce, telling the judge, “This is America, not Nazi Germany.”
Gloria Allred, whose law firm is representing Khan, said the jury will decide on punitive damages Monday.
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