Gucci heiress wins $115M in sex abuse case, defendant says he's broke

A Los Angeles jury awarded $85 million in damages and $30 million in punitive damages Tuesday to Gucci heiress Alexandra Zarini in a lawsuit accusing her former stepfather, Joseph Ruffalo, of sustained sexual abuse from her early childhood.

The jury found Ruffalo, a 1980s movie producer, liable for sexual battery and intentional inflection of emotional distress as the defendant assured the court that he had no way of paying the award. Among Ruffalo's movie projects is 1984's "Purple Rain," starring the performer, Prince.

Gary A. Dordick of Dordick Law Corporation in Beverly Hills, who represents Zarini, grilled Ruffalo on the stand about financial documents he had been asked to provide as part of the case.

"We asked you to bring information regarding credit cards, any loans on real estate, any lines of credit, any debt that you have," Dordick said to Ruffalo after the verdict was announced, but before the jury determined punitive damages. "Just to be clear - we all know the answer - you didn't bring any of that, is that correct?"

"No, but I can answer," Ruffalo replied. "I have no money. I have a large amount of credit card debt."

Ruffalo reiterated the claim as his attorney, Jilbert Tahmazian of Tahmazian Law Firm PC in Glendale, highlighted four years of 1040 tax returns that Ruffalo had provided.

"Since 2020, when this lawsuit occurred, have you spent a lot of money on legal defense?" Tahmazian asked.

Ruffalo replied that he had spent "hundreds of thousands."

Zarini, the great-granddaughter of Guccio Gucci, who founded the famed fashion house in Florence, Italy, in 1921, alleged in her lawsuit that, beginning when she was 6, Ruffalo sexually abused her.

In the lawsuit, filed in 2020, Zarini claimed that her mother, Patricia Gucci, and grandmother, Bruna Palombo, failed to protect her and fostered an enabling environment. She claimed they covered up the abuse by her stepfather and coerced her into silence to protect the family name. She further asserted Gucci owed her a special duty of care and actively aided the misconduct. Zarini v. Gucci et al., No. 20STCV34041 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 8, 2020).

Palombo was dismissed as a defendant by a court years ago, and Zarini dropped the claims against Gucci this month.

During closing arguments for the punitive damages phase of the case, Tahmazian noted that Ruffalo had sent emails requesting financial help from friends and moved in with a church friend at one point due to low funds.

"When this was happening and he was writing these emails, he had no idea anybody was going to sue him or ask for money from him," he said.

"Punitive damages is supposed to be punishing a person who is financially sound in the sense that he has to pay that money," he continued, adding that any punitive damages "should be very nominal."

This reasoning drew an argument from Dordick.

"Being financially irresponsible, not paying his debts, not paying his business debts, not paying his personal debts, being, essentially, a deadbeat is not an excuse," he said. "It's not a defense."

Defense attorney Donna A. Rotunno of Chicago, who argued on Ruffalo's behalf at trial, lamented the verdict following Tuesday's proceedings.

"We always will respect the jury's verdict," she said. "It doesn't mean we agree with it, and in the end, everybody here has to move forward with their lives. I do think there needs to be reforms in these laws that allow people to come forward after all these years. It's impossible to defend yourself and I think it makes it very difficult, especially when the burden of proof is on them."

Meanwhile, Dordick said his team and client are "incredibly pleased."

"My client wanted to be heard," he said. "She wanted people to appreciate what hardship she's endured and everything she's been through, and this verdict is a reflection that the jury heard her, understood her, appreciated what she's been through, and told her with their verdict that they wanted to make sure she's going to be OK, that they want to make sure she's been taken care of."

Zarini will be donating the award to children's foundations, Dordick said, noting that she has her own foundation, the Alexandra Gucci Children's Foundation.

"She spends the majority of her life protecting children and devoting her time to helping children, so hopefully the money recovered in this case will go to very good purposes," he said.