The Founder of American Apparel Terminated for Sexual Harassment Lawsuits

Dov Charney, a Canadian businessman who founded American Apparel at 20 years old, has been terminated from the company “for the cause.” The board of directors for American Apparel, based in Los Angeles, voted to officially remove Charney from his position. American Apparel has been criticized in the past for over-sexualized advertising campaigns and a culture of sexual harassment and misconduct. We had previously blogged about this here. Charney was removed for much of the same.

Charney’s replacement is former Warnaco executive, Paula Schneider. She will become the company’s next CEO. She hopes to maintain American Apparel’s image of American made products and improve the company’s overall image to both employees and customers.

As for Charney, he is at the center of several lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and sexual abuse towards female employees. He also has been accused of inappropriate behavior towards male employees. In 2011, a former employee alleged quid pro quo sexual harassment—she felt sex with Charney was a condition of her employment. The employee went as far as calling herself a “teenage sex slave” to him.

In 2012, a male manager alleged the former CEO of physical abuse including choking him and rubbing dirt in his face. After the violent encounter, Charney called him a “wannabe Jew” and a derogatory term for a homosexual.

Whether it was causation or merely correlation, the company’s stock fell significantly throughout 2014, and it suffered losses for three quarters.

Source: Daily Mail