Edited by Lauren Garroni
Another day, another Dov Charney lawsuit from a female employee.
If he isn’t designing 1970′s inspired, fair-trade cotton clothing, then he’s running around the office making his employees feel uncomfortable, if he’s accomplished that for the day then he’s most likely sexual harassing the female population of his employees.
This time it’s Jeneleen Floyd, who worked at the company for three years-shouldn’t she get some kind of compensation for surviving that long?
You can find the complaint she filed with the courts here
But here’s are the highlights:
11. Defendant Charney repeatedly shouted to Plaintiff that she should be f**king scared” and that if she did not do what he asked, plaintiff needed to resign. Defendant Charney made several references to an interview he had conducted with Jane magazine wherein he had received oral sex from an employee during the course of the interview and the reporter had engaged in masturbation. Defendant Charney sat down and ordered Plaintiff to “pretend to masturbate.”
12. Plaintiff continued in a state of shock and terror and refused to respond in any manner to Defendant’s demands. In addition Plaintiff was extremely embarrassed and humiliated at being sexually objectified in the presence of her co-workers, including her immediate supervisor, Matthew Swenson.
13. After an extended pause waiting for Plaintiff to respond to his command, and realizing that she had no intentions of complying, Defendant Charney then ordered Mr. Swenson to “pretend to masturbate.” As Mr. Swenson complied with his Defendant Charney’s instruction, Defendant Charney moved next to him and simulated an oral sex act with him.
At this point don’t you know what you’re getting yourself into when you decided to work at American Apparel? What does that make, four or five lawsuits from female employees in the last four years? I don’t have any illusion that this lawsuit, just like the previous lawsuits, will stop Charney. See behavior like this not only cements the reputation of American Apparel as edgy, but cements Charney’s legend as the Larry Flynt of fashion. Which I’m sure he would take as a compliment.
