American Apparel Seeks to Can CEO Dov Charney [Video]
American Apparel is positioning itself to fire its CEO, Dov Charney, over allegations related to his 2011 sex scandal. Charney was suspended as president and chief executive officer, and the company plans to fire him following the 30-day probation period stipulated in his contract. Four female former employees had accused Charney of sexual harassment. One case was settled, and the others are in arbitration.
In one of the other cases, former employee Irene Morales accuses him of making her his sex slave. According to the New York Post, the board is now accusing Charney of allowing another former employee to post nude photographs of Morales to a blog Morales supposedly maintained.
A judge eventually threw out the lawsuit and sent it to arbitration after Morales was found to have sent Charney dozens of nude photos of herself in additions to come-ons after she stopped working for the company.
The retailer's board this week said in statement that it is investigating unspecified "alleged misconduct" and will be resurrecting the case.
The Post reported that the board's concern is that the blog not only harassed Morales, but also broke California laws that forbid falsely impersonating others online, according to the suit filed by Morales' lawyer, Eric Baum. Because Charney knew of the blog being posted, the board is charging that he exposed the company to liability.
The board also spoke about its concerns involving severance payments Charney authorized to female former employees without the board's consent.
According to Reuters, an internal company investigation found that Charney violated several company policies, ranging from misuse of company funds to failing to stop the discrediting of one of the women who had accused him of sexual harassment.
Charney is trying to gain majority support from company shareholders to keep his job. Charney is looking to use his support to demand as many as four extra directors he could use as leverage.
A video was released this week on anonymous video-sharing site viddme of Charney dancing naked in front of two former or current empoyess. According to Gawker, a former employee has confirmed the video is of Charney.
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