An Amazon employee claimed she was raped by a senior executive during a business trip to New York City — 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.
Laura Danbom, who works at Amazon’s 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’s Silenced No More Act, which protects victims who speak up about workplace assaults from retaliation.
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.
That evening, the group attended an Amazon-hosted open bar event and continued the gathering at karaoke bars – all paid for by Amazon, according to the suit filed in state court in Seattle.
Early in the evening, Danbom and Simonte, who continues to work for Amazon at its Madrid offices, “flirted,” “joked” and “got along,” according to the complaint. At the end of the night, Simonte “kissed her,” and “persuaded Laura” to let him accompany her to her hotel room, the complaint said.
Danborn was staying at the Hyatt Place at 140 W. 24th St. in Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea neighborhood, according to a representative for the plaintiff. It was there that things took a wrong turn, the suit said.
“In Laura’s hotel room, during the early morning hours, Simonte raped her,” the complaint alleged. “Before the rape started, she said no. During the rape, Laura asked him: ‘you realize this is,’ and Simonte finished her sentence saying ‘rape? Yes.’ He ignored her protests. He raped her.”
The next day, she reported the incident to the New York Police Department, handing the officers a condom Simonte had left behind and submitting to a rape kit, according to the complaint.
During a phone call between Danbom and Simonte that a detective monitored for a potential confession, Simonte said he was “200% sure” that they never had sexual intercourse, according to the complaint.
Later, he contradicted himself in a police interview, saying he was too drunk to remember, according to the complaint.
Simonte did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn.
The NYPD declined to refer the case to local prosecutors, said Danbom’s 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.
Two days after the alleged incident, Danbom informed Amazon’s human resources department. She also told a number of friends and her therapist about her experience, according the suit.
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.
Amazon claimed Danbom’s account of what happened was “unfounded due to lack of evidence,” and amounted to a “he said, she said” situation, according to the filing.
Danbom alleges that Amazon closed its investigation without speaking with witnesses who could corroborate her account and “without gathering evidence that was there for the asking,” according to the complaint.
It also claimed that during Amazon’s investigation, the company “asked inappropriate and re-traumatizing questions that suggested Laura did not do enough to stop the attack, including challenging Laura on whether she yelled ‘no,’” according to the complaint.
“Before the rape began, she said no. No means no,” the suit added. “This is shameful questioning by a leading employer in 2024.”
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 “not to speak about Simonte’s rape at work saying the allegation was ‘highly confidential,’” according to the filing.
“It prevented me from warning other women who might interact with him at events,” Danbom told The Post.
Danbom was told that her role would not change at Amazon and that she would be required to “work with Simonte directly, by phone, by email and in remote meetings,” according to the filing.
“We 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,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement.
“We have robust policies and trained investigators in place to ensure each concern is heard and addressed with the proper care. While we don’t 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.”
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.
“It was really an escape,” she told The Post. “The position was a lateral move. I was on a path for a promotion and had to walk away from that.”
The complaint is seeking “lost wages, including front and backpay, lost bonuses and other benefits of employment, in an amount to be proven at trial.”
