HR manager defends billionaire boss in harassment trial

The former financial controller and human resources manager for many of Alki David's media interests testified Thursday the eccentric billionaire was kind, gentle and incapable of the sexual harassment allegations levied against him.

Testifying in the second trial against David in as many months, Yelena Calendar said she did not witness David commit any of the claims of sexual harassment alleged by former employee Lauren Reeves. In fact, she denied knowing Reeves, testifying she only met the plaintiff once to provide paperwork on her start date. Reeves v. Hologram USA Inc., BC643099 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 7, 2017).

"I didn't interact with her," Calendar said, noting she then left the company three weeks later in April 2016.

As for David, she categorized the soda-bottling scion and would-be media mogul as goofy and silly but admitted his jovial attitude was often misconstrued. Under direct examination from the defendant's lawyer, Ellyn S. Garofalo of Venable LLP, Calendar recalled a time when David came to her after he put his hands on a female employee's neck.

He was concerned the employee didn't consider the gesture a joke as he intended, Calendar testified. She later spoke with the employee, who was shaken following the altercation.

"He likes to have fun and play," Calendar testified. "That's his demeanor."

But Calendar turned combative during Nathan Goldberg's cross-examination, often showing impatience and annoyance as the Allred, Maroko & Goldberg partner questioned her. When Goldberg admitted pay stubs into evidence, Calendar asked him, "What's your point?"

Later, Goldberg asked if Calendar admonished David for putting his hands on the employee's neck.

"I didn't have to," she said. "He knows the difference between right and wrong."

The two clashed again when Goldberg brought up a poster hung inside another FilmOn executive's office depicting a man in a suit grabbing a waitress' breasts. The poster was titled "Her-Ass" with the tag line: "We Will Just Give You The Tip."

Calendar, who handled the company's human resources needs, called the image "a little poster with a light bit of humor."

"So sexual harassment is funny?" Goldberg asked.

"I'm not saying that; you're saying that," Calendar said. "It's [the executive's] personal attitude in her office. It's not something you want to have, but it was no big deal to me."

Goldberg later asked Calendar if she thought it was OK for David to put his hands on a female employee's neck. She testified it was "very innocent."

She also testified to witnessing an instance during a show taping of David picking up a female production assistant, giving her a wedgie and depositing her in a trash can. Goldberg asked if she thought David's behavior was appropriate if the employee had not consented to the bit.

"If it was done in the spirit of the context of the company, then I think it's appropriate," Calendar testified.

Later in the afternoon, David got into a heated argument with a bailiff after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green tossed him out of the courtroom following a second warning for his continuing profane outbursts.

Before excusing the jury for the day, Judge Green warned defense counsel if the bailiff feels the need to remove him, "I'm not going to second guess it."

Trial resumes Friday with David expected to retake the witness stand.