James Bonomo v. Mitsubishi International Corps
IT could happen to anyone. One minute you’re accompanying your boss on a business trip to China. The next minute he’s photographing your penis.
But an Italian American can only be pushed so far—and taking the piss out of his salami is one step too many, according to the New York Post.
James Bonomo filed suit in Manhattan federal court last month against his former employer Mitsubishi International Corps.
Bonomo claims a co-worker surreptitiously took a photo of his penis during a 2005 business trip to Beijing, and that his boss compared it to an “Italian sausage.”
The suit does not make clear what type, size or flavor of sausage, nor whether it was seasoned with herbs or spices. But Bonomo, a former paper sales manager, is clearly pissed at this former employer.
Bonomo says that after a meal with a client in Beijing, he accompanied his Tokyo-based boss Tetsuya Furuichi and a China-based colleague to a karaoke bar and was then pressured into visiting a bathhouse for “a non-sexual massage.”
“En route, Bonomo’s boss regaled him with an analysis of his admiration for the purported genital size of Italian-Americans,” the Post recounts.
“Despite Bonomo’s discomfort, Furuichi continued on in that vein, allegedly saying, ‘Italian men have penises ‘down to here,’ gesturing to his knees.’ The suit noted that Bonomo is both Italian-American and gay.”
Bonomo alleges that at the bathhouse, his Chinese colleague took a picture of his penis on a cellphone and refused to delete the picture. Meanwhile, his Japanese boss referred to Bonomo’s penis as his “Italian sausage” afterwards.
Bonomo says the humiliation effectively ended his career and that his work environment became abusive and hostile.
Mitsubishi denies the allegations. A spokeswoman tells the Post: “We investigated these claims and found them to be baseless…No one involved in Bonomo’s [Beijing trip] said that anything like what is alleged in his suit occurred.”
Posted: 23rd, July 2007 | In: Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
