Former Usher’s Suit Accuses Employer of Rape : Courts: Young woman alleges the theater manager assaulted her, then fired her when she threatened to tell.

A teen-age former theater usher has sued Cineplex Odeon Corp. and her ex-supervisor, alleging that he sexually harassed and raped her at the company’s Universal City Cinemas, then fired her when she threatened to complain.

The young woman alleges in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that George Webb, manager of the theaters, began telling her how “good her body was and how much he would like to see more of it” in October, 1992, just three weeks after she had been hired.

According to the lawsuit, the harassment escalated on Christmas Eve, 1992, after Webb summoned the woman and another employee into his office and showed them a gun. The suit alleges that he then called the woman alone to his office and began hugging and kissing her and later that same evening told her that wanted to “see her body.”

At that point, the young woman tried to flee Webb’s office, but he grabbed her and held her hands behind her body, ripped off her clothes and then brandished the gun he had shown her earlier, according to the lawsuit. Webb subsequently held her down and performed several sex acts on her, the suit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, on another occasion Webb grabbed the girl by her hair and raped her.

Webb said he would fire her if she told anyone, and did fire her last May when she threatened to complain after being repeatedly harassed, the suit contends. The suit did not say to whom she threatened to complain.

Webb could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

An unidentified detective at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said there is no record that the young woman who brought the lawsuit ever filed a criminal complaint against Webb with either the Sheriff’s Department or the Los Angeles Police Department. Stephan Math, an attorney representing the young woman, declined to discuss the case.

Cineplex spokesman Howard Lichtman said his company has fired Webb and is discussing a possible settlement with the young woman’s attorney.

The young woman is seeking an unspecified amount of general and punitive damages in her lawsuit, which alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of state sexual discrimination laws.

Cineplex Odeon has a detailed policy in place allowing employees to report sexual harassment to the company’s highest officials, Lichtman said.

In her lawsuit, the young woman alleges that Cineplex had received other complaints of the same nature regarding Webb but chose to ignore them. Lichtman said his company is unaware of any other such complaints about Webb.