American Apparel CEO sued for forcing sex on a teenager
By Virginia SmithMarch 8th, 2011, 6:50 pmComments (12)
American Apparel CEO, notorious creeper, and subject of numerous sexual-harassment lawsuits, Dov Charney, has been hit with his biggest legal challenge yet: a quarter-of-a-billion dollar (yes, billion) lawsuit from a former employee, who claims Charney sexually harassed her while she was still a seventeen-year-old working for the company, then forced her to have sex with him on her eighteenth birthday.
According to the suit, Charney terrorized the woman with an escalating series of sexual demands, threatening to fire her if she didn't comply, then insisted that she come to his apartment the day she became legal. Once she arrived, according to the suit, Charney answered the door in his underwear, forced her onto her knees to perform fellatio, then "dragged her to the bedroom, threw her on the bed, got on top of her and forced her to perform another act of fellatio, nearly suffocating her in the process," and "held [her] prisoner" in the apartment for several more hours after that.
American Apparel, which is currently valued at just $80 million, is having none of it, and just released the following statement in response to the charges:
"We have been informed today that Irene Morales, a former employee of American Apparel who left the company without complaint and resigned with a letter of gratitude regarding her positive experience at the company, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in New York against the company. Upon her resignation, Ms. Morales acknowledged in writing that she had no pending claims against the company and signed a severance agreement which included a full release of claims and an agreement to submit any future claims to confidential binding arbitration. All American Apparel's employees are subject to the same confidential arbitration agreement signed by Ms. Morales in order to protect the privacy interests of employees and former employees, and to prevent predatory plaintiffs and their attorneys from attempting to use the media to extort the company. Such an arbitration process was initiated by the company against Ms. Morales several weeks ago. The company intends to file a formal complaint with the NY state bar seeking disciplinary action against Ms. Morales' lawyers who we believe are engaged in an illegal conspiracy to extort money from American Apparel. We are very confident that Ms. Morales' claims will be promptly referred by the court to confidential binding arbitration where her claims and the company's counter-claims will be resolved, we believe fully in favor of the company."
Commentarium (12 Comments)
That guy looks like a total creep to me.
TOTALl creep. Think about the soft-core porn ads that company puts out. Coming back to haunt him now. He's notorious for trying to sex every single one of those models.
Just because he's a creep and hits on models doesn't mean that he assaulted one (it also doesn't mean he didn't). Quarter of a billion smacks to me of an opportunist trying to get some kind of large out of court settlement. I'd be interested to see how this plays out.
I agree. Besides, the acts that she describes Dov doing are not sexual harassment, they are rape? Why didn't she try to get him sent to jail if these claims are true?
Though I agree that one can be a creep and hit on girls without actually assaulting anyone, this man is known for his sexual inappropriateness to his workers and for masturbating in front of a woman who was interviewing him. There have been far to many red flags to give this guy the benefit of the doubt
Innocent until proven guilty, regardless of past masturbatory behavior.
"Innocent until proven guilty, regardless of past masturbatory behavior."
Quote of the year. Well done jmh, well. done.
Wait a minute, she valued her minimum wage job more than she valued her own dignity? She had a choice to go to his place, etc. The workers in the factories make more than the sales people. She couldn't possibly sue for 3x the value of the company... lol
I don't care if he did or or not, I want him to lose. This guy and tons of folks affiliated with him are CREEPY. Be honest. If he was a guy in a van, you would want him nowhere near your kids' school.
Whether or not he actually abused her, why do the questions always come against the alleged victim in such an accusatory tone? "Why did she wait so long to come forward?" "Why did she go back to working there?" etc etc etc. How about asking questions like, "Why is this disgusting slime ball the way he is?" or "What the f* is wrong with Dov Charney that would possibly make him do something like that?" Are we ever going to get past that blaming the victim attitude? And you wonder why people are hesitant to come forward. Consider the position they are in...defending your integrity nonstop while discussing extremely personal issues, all in the face of the more powerful "alleged" abuser. And let's not forget the trauma that they have potentially endured through the abuse. Just because there have been people of less character who have "cried wolf" for the sake of making money, is it right to assume all people will do that?
That's rape and they should call it rape. What's with American media's tendencies to use any word but rape?
Seriously. Ms.D and Eva you are so right. What the Hell??
and what is up with naming the victim reporting a sex crime????