LOS ANGELES - A woman who alleges she was sexually harassed by a billionaire hologram producer who employed her in 2015 testified today that her former boss once picked her up by the ankles and walked her upside down around the office, exposing her underwear.
``I was completely embarrassed, mortified and humiliated,'' 32-year- old Elizabeth Taylor told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury when describing the alleged actions of Alki David. ``I screamed for help and he locked me in an office and closed the door.''
Taylor is a co-plaintiff with 42-year-old Chastity Jones in a lawsuit filed in February 2017 against the 51-year-old David. They worked for two of David's companies, Hologram USA and FilmOn.TV. David was behind the hologram technology that brought slain rapper Tupac Shakur to Coachella in 2012 and saw the late Michael Jackson moonwalk at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.
Jones' claims are being tried first and Taylor's allegations will be heard by a separate jury in a trial scheduled this summer. Taylor and Jones have the same attorneys, who called Taylor to testify in her former co-worker's case.
David's lawyer, Ellyn Garofalo, said that Jones never made any allegations against David, a Beverly Hills resident and heir to a Coca-Cola bottling fortune. Before that, Jones praised her boss and said she loved her job, according to Garofalo, who described her client's business as a ``wild and outrageous place'' in which sexual innuendo was common.
In her testimony, Taylor said she was hired as an account executive in January 2015 and was fired in June of that year. Describing other alleged harassment by David, she said he once walked up from behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders without her knowledge or permission while she was at her desk. David then played a pornographic video on her computer that involved two women, Taylor said.
``I was humiliated,'' Taylor said. ``I didn't think it should happen in the workplace.''
On yet another occasion, David brought a man dressed in a police uniform who was actually a stripper, Taylor said.
``He pretty much took off all of his clothes,'' Taylor said. ``I was astonished, just disturbed.''
David also once tied Taylor to a chair with computer wire, she said.
Taylor said the David's companies did not have a human resources department, so she eventually complained to one of the executives about David's alleged misconduct.
The executive blamed Taylor for what happened and refused to take a written statement from her, Taylor said.
Taylor said she is currently unemployed and lives in a studio apartment near Beverly Hills.
Jones was fired in November 2016. Her testimony spanned 2 1/2 days and at one point Tuesday she asked for a break, saying she didn't feel well. When her time on the stand came to an end today, she said, ''Thank God.''