NOT GUILTY: Manager Cleared Of Groping Female Colleague

Innocent: Lumiere Chieh

A female manager at a City educational publishers has been cleared by a jury of sexually assaulting a drunken co-worker in a pub cubicle.

Senior digital project manager Lumiere Chieh, 31, insists the encounter at The Sea Horse pub, near the company’s Blackfriars office was consensual.

However, the complainant told an Inner London Crown Court jury: “I have had flashbacks of her putting her hand down my pants. 

“I think I was too drunk to consent.”

Openly gay/bisexual Chieh, of Spring Vale Terrace, Hammersmith pleaded not guilty to one count of sexually assaulting the woman on April 28, last year.

The complainant did not report the allegation to police at the time and the jury heard she only made the complaint with the encouragement of her HR team.

The allegation resulted in Chieh being sacked from the company, an industry leader in the educational field.

The complainant said she was sitting on the toilet when she suddenly became aware of Chieh standing in front of her.

However, Chieh insists the woman gave her a “nod” to enter the cubicle and when she kissed her the complainant kissed her back.

“I suddenly became aware of what was happening, that we were kissing,” added the woman.

“I remember my trousers being down and her hand being there.”

When asked if she recalled touching Chieh herself, she replied: “I can’t remember that.”

Chieh insists the woman was a willing participant until the moment she said: “Too much,” which ended the encounter.

The complainant, who describes herself as straight, denied “feeling bad” about Chieh then spending the rest of the works drinks night in the company of another woman.

The rest of her colleagues quickly heard about what happened, but the woman insisted this did not embarrass her.

That night on the same staircase from the downstairs toilet Chieh exchanged kisses with another female colleague and they quickly became a couple.

The complainant told the court her working relationship with the defendant suffered and Chieh was sacked after a grievance was raised with Human Resources after an office incident.

The defence suggested the assault allegation was made to bolster the complainant's own internal disciplinary proceedings.