Oscar De La Hoya is being sued by a former employee of Empresas Casa México, a tequila company of which he is a partner, who says the former world boxing champion sexually assaulted her twice in 2020, once during a company event and another time at his residence. .
The crossover lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by USA TODAY Sports. It includes 11 complaints, alleging sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, wrongful termination, and fraud.
Gina Ruccione says in the lawsuit that in March 2020 Casa México organized a corporate event in Mexico to visit the tequila distillery and create advertising and marketing materials. The event was attended by sports and entertainment partners, including actor Mario López.
She says she went back to her hotel room the first night and was woken up by De La Hoya banging on the door. After opening the door, De La Hoya allegedly pulled his pants down to his ankles, entered the room and got into Ruccione’s bed.
Ruccione says he pushed De La Hoya out of bed, walked him to his room, opened the door and went back to his room.
The next morning Ruccione was in charge of managing the activities of the Casa México trip. She went to De La Hoya’s room to wake him up since she did not show up with the rest of the group.
In response to her knocking on the door, De La Hoya pushed her onto his bed and allegedly sexually assaulted her. Ruccione says the company took no action after she told then-CEO Eric Gerardo Leyva-Buccio about the assault, according to the suit.
USA TODAY Sports does not name possible victims of sexual misconduct, but Ruccione has made their identity public.
Shortly after the group returned to Los Angeles, Ruccione and several others went to dinner and then to De La Hoya’s home. At one point, De La Hoya was alone with Ruccione and allegedly retrieved a sex object and forcibly inserted it into her. She also says that during her employment at Casa Mexico, her supervisors repeatedly “subjected her to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.”
Michael Gooch, CEO of Casa Mexico, Robert Crossan, COO of Casa Mexico, and DV Capital Partners, a Florida company owned by Gooch, are the other defendants, and Ruccione is requesting a jury trial, seeking punitive damages. and copies.
Ruccione was hired to do marketing for the company in 2019, with the title of vice president of marketing for Casa México, although she was not a direct employee of the company. She was fired in November, months after the company discussed filing an initial public offering (IPO), which she objected to.
The following month, Casa México filed a contractual corporate governance lawsuit against Leyva-Buccio and Ruccione.
A spokesman for Golden Boy Enterprises, a boxing promotions company founded by De La Hoya, declined to comment.
“Oscar de la Hoya sexually assaulted Mrs. Ruccione. Ms. Ruccione has been severely affected and has filed a lawsuit to hold him and those who perpetuate toxic masculinity and a hostile work environment where his abuse was not only tolerated, but encouraged and tolerated by Casa Mexico executives, accountable. Michael Gooch and Robert Crossan. As a survivor of this abuse, he wants others to know that this behavior is unacceptable, and it doesn’t matter who you are. We will seek justice in his name,” said Ruccione’s attorney, Sylvia Torres-Guillén de Andrade Gonzalez.
De La Hoya, 49, rose to stardom after winning a gold medal in boxing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. After turning professional, he won 11 world titles in six weight classes, finishing with a record of 39-6 career with 30 knockouts. He founded Golden Boy Promotions in 2002. He was accused of sexual assault in 2017 by an unidentified woman, and in 1998 when a 15-year-old girl said De La Hoya raped her and locked her in a hotel room in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. That case was settled out of court.
