Warning: this article contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault.
Shuji Bon Yagi, restaurant magnate and unofficial mayor of New York City’s “Little Tokyo,” is facing a $95 million sexual assault lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 12, MEAWW reports.
According to New York Post, 51-year-old Nozomi Horikoshi, the vice president of operations at his company, TIC Restaurant Group, filed the lawsuit. She alleges that Yagi, 73, had sex with her when she was unconscious and could not consent. The alleged incident occurred on Dec. 10 after the victim had been out drinking with co-workers.
Horikoshi claimed in the lawsuit that Yagi invited himself to a birthday celebration for one of their co-workers knowing that his wife was out of town. Eventually, Horikoshi, Yagi and another female co-worker went to a different bar after members of the group began splintering off. By 2 a.m. Horikoshi says she was very drunk. Yagi put her into a cab and allegedly began grabbing, touching and trying to kiss her.
“I woke up at his apartment and I wasn’t wearing anything,” the 51-year-old married mom told New York Post. “I realized I was naked from the waist down … that was so embarrassing.”
She took a cab home that morning. Court documents allege that Horikoshi felt she had been penetrated and had a bruise on the back of her head. Later that day, the suit claims she tried to confront Yagi about the situation but he abruptly ended the phone conversation.
She tried again to address the incident in January. According to court documents, she alleges that Yagi admitted he had always been interested in her and thought there was mutual consent during their sexual encounter.
According to Daily Mail, several publications have dubbed Yagi the unofficial mayor of Little Tokyo in New York City for his contributions to restaurants in the area. Yagi’s lawyer has denied the allegations and claimed Horikoshi has financial motives.
“The undisputed facts are that Nozomi got black out drunk, fell on a sidewalk and smashed her head, and texted a friend the next day that she had no recollection of even being in Yagi’s apartment,” Louis Pechman, Yagi’s attorney, said in a statement to New York Post. “Now she wants 300 million dollars, claiming that a man who had his prostrate removed has raped her. There was never any sexual assault. Full stop.”
Horikoshi’s attorney Christopher Brennan says the case is about power dynamics.
“Mr. Bon Yagi assumed that because he was Ms. Horikoshi’s boss and a prominent local business person, he was permitted to betray Ms. Horikoshi’s trust and violate her sexually, as described in the complaint filed today,” Brennan said in a statement to New York Post. “Mr. Yagi underestimated Ms. Horikoshi’s strength of character and her willingness to take the steps necessary to hold Mr. Bon Yagi accountable for his actions.”
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