A Disney employee who claims she was raped by a top executive claims the Mouse House covered up his sexual abuse allegations, according to a lawsuit.
A lawsuit filed against Disney alleges that management repeatedly refused to escalate several complaints about former distribution vice president Nolan Gonzalez, which allowed him to “freely harass women.” It is said that an environment was created in which people could commit crimes without being punished.
“Management was incentivized to conceal Gonzalez's harassment because Gonzalez was generating valuable income,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Neither Disney nor Gonzalez responded to requests for comment.
The plaintiff, suing as Jane Doe, claimed Gonzalez raped her several times in 2017 after incapacitating her by giving her ecstasy and date rape drugs.
The complaint alleges that Gonzalez also “used his position of power and intimidation” to coerce her into having sex. When she tried to cut off contact with him in 2018, her executive allegedly threatened to “ruin her career” by releasing an intimate video of their encounter.
The plaintiff also argued that she was neither Gonzalez's “first nor last victim” and that his history of sexual misconduct was well known to management. In 2018, she filed a complaint with Disney's human resources department, which allegedly refused to properly investigate or take punitive action against him over the years.
“Women were reluctant to come forward about Mr. Gonzalez's actions because management seemed to accept his actions as part of the entertainment industry and acknowledged that firing him would be a financial blow to the company. ,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs allege that by 2022, the executive's “egregious behavior” had become widely known, and that “Disney's chairman was saying that Gonzalez was a pervert and that other women at the company felt the same way.” I heard you there,” he added.
Gonzalez resigned in 2022 after three other women accused him of sexual harassment, according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, the plaintiff alleges that she was demoted last year after Disney allegedly tried to retaliate against her.
As The Post previously reported, the company last year saw mass layoffs as CEO Bob Iger sought to cut costs.
“Disney used rolling layoffs as an excuse to demote Plaintiff and place her on a different team where she had no control over her direct reports,” the complaint states. “Previously, Plaintiff was a supervisory-level employee who trained and coached three of her subordinates. Now, Plaintiff's critical duties are much smaller in scope and are much smaller in scope than what she performed at Disney 10 years ago.” The same is true of her duties.”
The suit also names Disney entities Searchlight and 20th Century, with claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, assault, and negligence, among other claims related to the alleged cover-up. .
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
