Milan, 10 July (LaPresse) – CISL trade unionist R. M. has been sentenced in a second appeal to one year and two months’ imprisonment in the case that has become known as the ‘sexual assault after 20 seconds’ suffered by a flight attendant at Malpensa Airport on 12 March 2018. The woman had approached him in his office regarding work-related issues and was subjected to groping of her private parts and ‘underwear’, as well as ‘kisses on the neck’, whilst the man told her, ‘Let off steam as much as you like, we’re alone, there’s no one here’. Initially ‘taken by surprise and paralysed by fear’, she was reportedly unable to react, only managing to tell him to stop after 20–30 seconds. The 49-year-old had been acquitted both at first instance by the Court of Busto Arsizio and by the Milan Court of Appeal, on the grounds that he had not immediately perceived the woman’s resistance, but the Court of Cassation quashed the acquittals and remanded the case, ordering a new appeal hearing. This morning, the judges of the Second Criminal Section of the Milan Court of Appeal (presided over by Judge Manzi) overturned the acquittals, finding the trade unionist guilty of sexual assault in the workplace and also ordering him to pay compensation to the woman, who was represented by Gionata Bonuccelli, a barrister from Viareggio, and who has since had to change jobs. The 49-year-old was also ordered to pay an immediate provisional sum of 10,000 euros and the costs of the proceedings. The grounds for the judgement will be filed within 90 days.
Milan: woman says ‘no’ after 20 seconds; trade unionist sentenced in second appeal
Milan, 10 July (LaPresse) – CISL trade unionist R. M. has been sentenced in a second appeal to one year and two months’ imprisonment in the case that has become known as the ‘sexual assault after 20 seconds’ suffered by a flight attendant at Malpensa Airport on 12 March 2018. The woman had approached him in his office regarding work-related issues and was subjected to groping of her private parts and ‘underwear’, as well as ‘kisses on the neck’, whilst the man told her, ‘Let off steam as much as you like, we’re alone, there’s no one here’. Initially ‘taken by surprise and paralysed by fear’, she was reportedly unable to react, only managing to tell him to stop after 20–30 seconds. The 49-year-old had been acquitted both at first instance by the Court of Busto Arsizio and by the Milan Court of Appeal, on the grounds that he had not immediately perceived the woman’s resistance, but the Court of Cassation quashed the acquittals and remanded the case, ordering a new appeal hearing. This morning, the judges of the Second Criminal Section of the Milan Court of Appeal (presided over by Judge Manzi) overturned the acquittals, finding the trade unionist guilty of sexual assault in the workplace and also ordering him to pay compensation to the woman, who was represented by Gionata Bonuccelli, a barrister from Viareggio, and who has since had to change jobs. The 49-year-old was also ordered to pay an immediate provisional sum of 10,000 euros and the costs of the proceedings. The grounds for the judgement will be filed within 90 days.
