After months of torment, Sayaka Kobayashi says, she walked into the office of her boss at Toyota Motor North America Inc. on Dec. 12 thinking that his sexual harassment would end. At the very least, she wanted him to apologize.

The meeting with CEO Hideaki Otaka, 65, Toyota's top executive in North America, had been arranged by Toyota's second-in-command, Dennis Cuneo. But Otaka did not apologize to his executive assistant. Rather, Kobayashi alleges that Otaka criticized and humiliated her, calling her ungrateful for his efforts to advance her career. The 42-year-old employee says Otaka groped her on a business trip and in New York's Central Park, showered her with unwanted roses and jewelry, boasted about his marital infidelity and wanted her to have his child. And she contends that Toyota stonewalled her complaints.

Kobayashi gave her account of the meeting in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed on May 1 in New York Supreme Court and in a telephone interview with Automotive News. She seeks $190 million in damages from Otaka and Toyota.

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