Amazon Manager Sues Company Over Rape Allegations Against Senior Executive

Laura Danbom, a 39-year-old marketing manager at Amazon's Seattle headquarters, is fighting back with a lawsuit filed Tuesday in King County Superior Court. She claims she was raped by senior manager Michelangelo Simonte following a company event and then silenced when she tried to seek justice.

The civil complaint paints a grim scene from late 2023. Danbom traveled to New York for a work trip where Amazon paid for an open bar at a colleague party. The night ended with karaoke, but Danbom had never met Simonte in person before that event. They would become close working partners the following year despite this alleged violation of trust.

At dawn, Simonte allegedly pushed Danbom to return to his hotel room for sex. She refused. Yet he came anyway during the early morning hours and ignored her protests. The lawsuit states she told him no before it began. Mid-assault, she asked if he realized what was happening, and Simonte reportedly finished her sentence by saying "rape? Yes."

Danbom spent that day confiding in a friend and then decided to report the assault to police, knowing the process would be traumatic. She wanted to stand up for herself and stop future attacks on women. The filing says she summoned the energy to fight back even while in shock. A rape kit was conducted at the hospital, and she gave officers a condom as evidence. However, authorities allegedly did not take a DNA sample from Simonte to compare.

Police instructions reportedly told her to call Simonte and try to get a confession. She questioned him about the night's events, and he claimed they never had sexual intercourse, stating he was "200 per cent sure." Later, during an interview with detectives, his story shifted. He told police he was too intoxicated to remember anything that happened.

Two days after the alleged assault, Danbom reported everything to Amazon HR. An internal investigation launched. Months later, Amazon concluded they could not substantiate her claim due to a lack of evidence. Her lawyers argue this was a rushed, shoddy probe that failed to interview witnesses she trusted immediately after the attack.

The complaint asserts Amazon forced Danbom to keep working with Simonte and stay silent if she wanted her job. The company allegedly offered to reopen the investigation only if Simonte faced criminal charges. Danbom says Amazon violated Washington's Silenced No More Act by creating a hostile work environment and failing to protect its employees.

Danbom remains on Amazon payroll, but her role has shifted to a new department away from her former duties. The lawsuit calls this transfer untenable, pointing to statistics that show only eighteen out of every one hundred reported rapes lead to an arrest. Following the alleged assault, Danbom moved departments specifically to avoid Simonte, effectively abandoning years of hard-earned professional progress as the complaint details. She claims she sent a message to HR stating that seeing Simonte at meetings made her feel unwell and caused her to lose sleep over the situation. Over the next almost three years, the survivor kept working at Amazon with hope that the company would change and stand up for women, yet she now realizes transformation won't happen without force. Danbom told the Daily Mail that she simply hopes to empower women to speak up because bringing these issues to light is so important. She says Amazon's failure to investigate the alleged rape set her back years and took a heavy emotional toll on her life. The company has been accused in the suit of violating Washington's Silenced No More Act, which bans employers from stopping employees from discussing illegal conduct or creating hostile environments. Legal documents also allege Simonte had a history of troubling conduct toward women while Amazon failed to protect Danbom from him. She is seeking damages for lost wages and wants a jury trial on the matter. Amazon has not responded to the complaint yet, and Simonte has remained silent regarding the allegations against his name since he is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit. An Amazon spokesperson told the Seattle Times that the company investigates misconduct and acts against those who break its rules. We take any allegation of this nature extremely seriously, and we have zero tolerance for workplace sexual misconduct or violence of any kind, the statement read. The Daily Mail has reached out to Danbom's representation, Simonte, Amazon, and the NYPD for comment on these serious claims.