A woman has reached a tentative settlement in her lawsuit against billionaire businessman Alec Gores and his company, Alec Gores LLC, in which she alleged she was wrongfully fired from her housekeeper job at Gore’s home when she rebuffed his repeated sexual advances.
Identified in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit only as D. Roe, the plaintiff also contended that the Gores defendants tried to make her sign a gag order with a $25,000 penalty for each time she spoke in public about her accusations.
On Tuesday, Roe’s attorney filed court papers with Judge Steve Cochran notifying him of a “conditional” settlement in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Feb. 1. No terms were divulged.
Gores’ attorneys denied Roe’s allegations.
“Mr. Gores did not engage in any of the conduct alleged by plaintiff and plaintiff would be liable for defamation if her allegations were not otherwise cloaked by the litigation privilege,” the lawyers stated in their court papers.
Roe knew that her employment would soon end because Gores’ family staff was downsizing and others expressed concerns about her behavior, including her habit of talking poorly about some colleagues and flirting with others, Gores’ lawyers stated in their pleadings.
Some of Roe’s colleagues also were concerned that she might be stealing from the businessman’s family, the Gores attorneys further stated.
Roe filed the suit in September 2023. Her allegations included sexual harassment, sexual battery, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to the complaint, Roe began working for Gores through an agency in November 2021. Soon thereafter, Gores began making unwanted sexual advances toward her by touching her hips and thighs, the suit stated.
“His unwanted advances increased and turned into sexual assault,” the suit alleged. “Plaintiff would try and get away, but he was strong and forced her. This happened multiple times.”
Roe was injured in September 2022 and was fired rather than accommodated for her disability, the complaint states. The Gores defendants told her to sign an agreement that she believed was illegal and would have required her to pay $25,000 each time she breached it be talking publicly about what happened to her, but she refused to put her name to it, the suit states.
Gores, born in Israel, started acquiring his fortune by making leveraged buyouts of technology. He has also been instrumental in popularizing special-purpose acquisition companies.