Former boxer Oscar De La Hoya accused in suit of sexually assaulting ex-employee

A woman sued Oscar De La Hoya, accusing the former boxing champion of sexually assaulting her twice in 2020 when she worked for his tequila company.

In a Los Angeles County Superior Court civil action the woman said the attacks happened in Mexico and California while she was a marketing executive for Casa Mexico Tequila, which lists De La Hoya as one of its partners.

The woman lists De La Hoya, Casa Mexico and other company officials as defendants in her claim.

In March 2020, she and other company employees were allegedly in Mexico "to visit its distillery and create advertising and marketing materials," the civil complaint said.

One night after going to sleep, the woman said, De La Hoya banged on her hotel room door and she opened to find him standing there "with his pants dropped to his ankles" before he "pushed his way into the room, and got into her bed," the lawsuit said.

The woman "had not invited him into her room," and she "pushed him from the bed and walked him to his room, opened his door, and immediately returned to her own room," according to the lawsuit.

The next morning, De La Hoya did not appear for "the day’s activity schedule for touring and marketing activities" so the woman went to his room "to wake him," the lawsuit said. That's when the former champ allegedly pulled her "into his bed, where he sexually assaulted her," the lawsuit said.

Not long after the incident in Mexico, members of this work group were back in Southern California where they went out to dinner and ended up back at De La Hoya's home, according to the complaint.

Then at one point, the woman and De La Hoya were alone, when he allegedly "retrieved a sexual object from a stored collection in his house." That's when De La Hoya, without the woman's consent, "forcibly inserted the sexual object into" her body, the complaint said.

She told company CEO Eric Gerardo Leyva-Buccio "about the assault, but the company took no action," according to the lawsuit.

A representative of De La Hoya said he "and all other parties involved vehemently deny these false accusations, created with such malicious intentions, by a former employee, who was terminated for just cause."

The former champ said in a statement that he's the victim of "vindictive, false and unjust accusations that are interpreted and spread as truth — without any evidence to support erroneous claims."

“I am confident my legal team will resolve this matter and prove my innocence," he added.

A lawyer for Casa Mexico could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

The woman's lawsuit claims she was fired without good cause and denied a 2.5-percent ownership stake that had been promised. The civil action did not name a specific dollar amount.

The woman's civil action is a counter-complaint against the company, which in December filed a lawsuit against her and Buccio for allegedly hindering Casa Mexico's initial public offering.

Casa Mexico said they were part of a "broader scheme to devalue" the company in order to "seize control" of it.

The woman's attorney, Sylvia Torres-Guillén, said the company's ongoing lawsuit is "nothing more than a further attempt to silence her and prevent her from seeking justice." A case management conference has been scheduled by the court for June 21.