SANTA MONICA (CN) - A luxury apartment complex advertised its spa manager as a trainer to "Hollywood 'A-list' celebrities and star athletes," despite his criminal conviction and sordid history, an alleged victim claims in court.
Elizabeth V. sued Gregory Isaacs, Palazzo Westwood Village and Casden Property Co., in Superior Court.
She claims Isaacs' employers "knew they had a dangerous sexual predator employed as the manager of the gym and as a fitness instructor," but gave him "unfettered access to unsuspecting women under the guise of providing fitness training."
She says in the complaint that during a gym session, Isaacs offered to help stretch her legs, then straddled her, "digitally penetrated" her and forced her into "oral copulation."
She says she was a resident at Palazzo Westwood Village, which touts itself as "Southern California's most luxurious rental community" with a "state of the art fitness center," the complaint states.
"Isaacs was the on-site manager of the workout facility and also acted as the fitness trainer for tenants at the complex," the complaint states. "In defendants' promotional and marketing materials, defendants described Isaacs to potential and current tenants as being 'one of the most recognized voices of fitness' who has trained a number of Hollywood 'A-list' celebrities and star athletes like Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Defendants described Isaacs as a top-notch, professional trainer with an unblemished reputation."
Palazzo "touted Isaacs and the health spa he managed as one of the primary benefits a tenant would receive by living at the apartment complex," the complaint states.
"Isaacs, however, had a long history of sexually assaulting women and had a prior criminal sexual assault conviction on his records," according to the complaint. "Isaacs had established a pattern of assaulting women by using his position as a fitness trainer to gain their trust and compliance."
According to the complaint, Isaacs was charged with felony crimes in 2006 and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge in connection with this incident: "In 2006, 'Lauren' was a member at Equinox and took a spinning class taught by Isaacs. After one class, Lauren asked Isaacs for advice about an upcoming triathlon. Isaacs offered to loan her a special bike she could use for the triathlon. He invited her to come to his house to look at the bike. Later that evening Lauren went with a female friend to Isaacs' home. Isaacs showed her the bike and then offered to stretch her in his garage (which he used as a workout room). While stretching Lauren, Isaacs put his hands underneath her clothing and touched her vagina. He acted as if nothing happened. Then he put his finger in her vagina."
The complaint calls "Lauren" Isaacs' "female victim No. 5."
Elizabeth V. claims Palazzo "never conducted a criminal background check on Isaacs. Had they done so, they would easily have discovered the 2006 sexual battery conviction."
The 30-page complaint describes incidents involving alleged "female victims" 1 through 8, all of which occurred before Isaacs assaulted her, Elizabeth V. says. Victims 7 and 8 were both employed by the defendants, according to the complaint.
Elizabeth V. claims that Isaacs' history of sexual assault dates back to 1990 when he used the prospect of meeting Sylvester Stallone to lure a woman, "Tara," victim No. 1, to his apartment.