American Apparel Shares 'Lurid Details' About Ex-CEO

Dov Charney denies accusations as defamation suits keep coming
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 23, 2015 9:30 AM CDT
American Apparel Shares 'Lurid Details' About Ex-CEO
In this April 3, 2012 photo, Dov Charney, founder of American Apparel, is photographed at the company's factory in downtown Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Gary Friedman)

American Apparel has had enough of Dov Charney "suing everyone," including his former company, and is airing some alleged dirty laundry in the hope that it'll halt the lawsuit blitz. The Los Angeles Times reports the company has filed court documents containing what it calls a "trove of lurid details" of Charney's alleged behavior: that he kept footage of himself in sexual situations with models and employees on the company's server; called workers in the accounting department "Filipino pigs ... with your faces in the trough"; tried to strangle a worker he'd called a "long-haired wanna-be Jew"; and mimed holding a gun to an employee's forehead. The company says the documents, filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, show the company had cause to fire Charney last year; his team argues the firing was "illegal."

American Apparel Chairwoman Colleen Brown says evidence of Charney's misconduct is "voluminous." Brown is identified in one of at least two defamation suits against the company by Charney's team, the latest of which was itself filed Friday and asks for $30 million in damages, reports Fashionista. But Charney's lawyers have denied all accusations, arguing "an amorous message" was only found "when the company broke into Mr. Charney's email." False claims or not, the documents show American Apparel is "willing to play hardball," a business law professor says, noting Charney's alleged statements could have been handled privately. Instead, the company took an "aggressive legal position to try and knock down the adversary." (More American Apparel stories.)

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