American Apparel CEO sued for sexual harassment
CVK
Clothing company American Apparel is known for its racy ads, many of which exoticize mixed people (see February’s post American Apparel: t-shirts, sex and mixed people too). The company’s CEO Dov Charney, with his handlebar moustache and his propensity for posing for pics in his underwear, has also cultivated a hyper-sexualized persona for himself. By hyper-sexualized I don’t necessarily mean appealing. His look can best be described as a really pervy and creepy uncle, circa 1973.
But according to the New York Times, Charney is facing trouble with the law. Three former employees have brought sexual harassment lawsuits against Charney:
…three plaintiffs who worked on American Apparel’s administrative and sales staffs charge that they endured sexual misconduct and innuendo and an environment in which women did not feel safe…
Among the allegations: using crude language and gestures, conducting job interviews in his underwear, ordering the hiring of women in whom he had a sexual interest and giving one of the plaintiffs a vibrator…
Even under the murkiest of he-said, she-said circumstances, Mr. Charney’s management style runs counter to American cultural and business norms and has left him vulnerable to the kind of claims he faces now, workplace experts and some of Mr. Charney’s supporters said.
For instance, he takes many of the suggestive pictures and body-part close-ups of women, some of them also employees, that decorate his stores.
And in an article in Jane magazine last summer, Mr. Charney was described as engaging in oral sex with a female employee and masturbating in front of the writer several times with the writer’s acquiescence.
Harley wrote:
The media buzz around this self-made multi-millionaire Dov Charney is astoundingly polarised. A quick google search of coverage and blogs alike, and the two camps are plain: either Charney is a sexist monster who wantonly exploits women (and their sexuality), or anyone who works or worked for him is well aware in advance of what they’re getting themselves into.
The latter might have point. Walk into any store or view any ad, and the philosophy of the company is bluntly transparent. What’s most unprecedented, however, is Charney’s own record for being candid. Any statement of his that you can find out there is nothing less than honest. Whatever your beliefs, he or may not be a wolf, but there’s nary a trace of sheeps clothing.
What’s most intriguing, though, is how Charney’s antagonist are comprised of the two staunchly walks of life. You either have reputably conservative publications chastising his methods in an effort to appeal to the moral inclinations of their readerships (re: the Political Right), or third-wave leftist bloggers similarly denouncing him on ambiguously abstract moral grounds. Who would have ever thought that a modern day Larry Flynt could have got the such diametrically opposed camps merging into one on any issue.
What’s important, though, is that the solutions implicitly suggested by the anti-Charney content out there seems construed along the lines of the ends justifying the means. It’s all totalitarian hyberbole, and it seems that the biggest danger posed by Charney comes in the wake of his opponents.
Buy the “they know what they’re getting into” line or not, but it seems that the only way to eliminate the Charney-threat (if you see it as such, that is) is to resort the kind of crypto-fascist dogmatism as revoking liberties in order to protect them. Sure, lock something up in a vault, beyond reach, and it’ll be safe.
Posted 25 Jul 2005 at 3:03 pm ¶
AustinL. wrote:
Everyone is Picking on Dov Charney & American Apparel for their Sexually Suggestive Advertisement and then when the public finds out that he is a Sexually Active 30 something year old, it is immediatly taboo for a business owner and deserves negative media coverage.
My Question is, When is Any of this new News??
Since when do business owners not have their kinky sides? Since when have fashion business’s not used sex to sell? Since when does the public blame the CEO’s for their own lives and their business’s doings?
Since Dov Charney and American Apparel. Because Dov Charney is doing the job of ten faceless men if it were a public company. its to blame because finally there is a specific someone to blame, a someone that can have a face to the dis-tasteful adevrtisement and “sexual harrassment” lawsuits. In the end, he just another man trying to make the american dream.
What more can we, the consumer, we the public, ask for from a retail t-shirt company? Their business ethics are great, their advertisement is the same as everyone’s elses with that target market…so really? why are we nagging on him? Because theres a face to the company?
Posted 07 Aug 2005 at 12:30 am ¶
Lenora wrote:
I have been following this story closely because I have been writing a lot of papers for my Women’s Studies class about sexual harassment lawsuits. It’s very refreshing to see that not everyone is automatically assuming that Charney is guilty. I mean love him, or hate him the guy has done some amazing things for many people. And I think we always give women this role of the heroic victim when in fact many sexual harassment suits are filed for the love of money.
I read this great article about sexual harrassment lawsuits that I think everyone should check out. It deals with everyone’s favorite Fox News personality, Bill O’Reilly. Let me know what you think.
http://www.nypress.com/17/43/news&columns/feature.cfm
Posted 07 Aug 2005 at 7:52 pm ¶
Julie416 wrote:
Dov Charney…those who are interested have their opinions. Those who are uneducated about Charneys American Apparel dream also have their opinions. Untill one really gets into the business aspect of the company, the horny ads and supposed harrasment incidents are really minor in contrast.
he is a new wave of business man.
>>> Embarass the big names in the apprel industry by proving that the skeletons in their closets could have been avoided. And if originally avoided, the fact of a better future. Economically, Socially, Environmentally. American Apparel will do well in the future and it is because of all this controversey. In the end, Dov Charney’s American Apparel will be regarded as an ideal business method and will be referred to in text books for years to come.
Posted 07 Aug 2005 at 10:25 pm ¶
looksie wrote:
buy the movie rights now…
Posted 09 Aug 2005 at 9:54 pm ¶
Millisent Fury Hopkins wrote:
Lenora that article was AMAZING. I’m definitely forwarding it on. Now onto Dov… who cares? If they dont like the way he is acting in _his_ business, why not leave? I’m sure its hard to apply for a job in a company you know absolutely nothing about. But I only know what I have read above…
Posted 16 Aug 2005 at 3:37 pm ¶
Andy Wahol wrote:
American Apperal and Dov Charney are like if Andy Warhol had realized a t-shirt factory as ART.
art is about comparing observations. art is about anything you can get away with. art is about the new.
DOV AND AA IS Conceptual Art
Posted 17 Aug 2005 at 10:54 am ¶
Ex-customer wrote:
Let me start with a disclaimer: I have no issue with women who want to pose in sexy ads for American Apparel. I also have no beef with women who (actually) want to sleep with Dov Charney.
A couple of years ago, I got to know a female ex-employee of American Apparel. After hearing about her experience, I stopped shopping there. I stopped shopping at AA because I couldn’t stand the idea of giving a creep like Dov Charney my money. When I spoke to friends about my decision, many acknowledged that Dov was most likely a jerk, but they liked the way that the workers in the factory were taken care of and didn’t want to hurt the business by boycotting the clothing.
I saw their point.
However, out of loyalty to my friend, I decided to stick to my plan. And when I heard about the recent sexual harassment charges that have been filed against Dov, I was glad I did.
I was talking to someone about the situation recently and she made a good point: Not wanting to confront Dov for fear of harming the company is like not wanting to press charges against someone who’s been sexually abusing a family member - for fear of tearing the family apart. But unfortunately, the family has already been torn apart, destroyed BY THE ABUSER.
I understand the reluctance to face the fact that Dov Charney is a bullshitter. I spent quite a bit of money at AA (before all of this came out) thinking that I was contributing to something truly great and now I feel like a schmuck. Turns out that the people he pretends to care so much about are nothing more than photo ops for a highly manipulative branding campaign. Oh wait - I forgot: AA is “brand free.”
Dov Charney has made millions “Fucking the brands that fuck the people” at his “sweatshop free”, “vertically integrated” factory in “downtown LA.” Every single one of his slogans is born from the notion that AA provides a safe, fair, enjoyable place to work and is therefore, a safe, fair and enjoyable place to shop. However, Dov apparently picks and choses who he treats fairly and who he tosses out onto the street.
When I talk to people now, attitudes have changed. Both my male and female friends feel disgusted, duped - and many of them are shopping elsewhere. I also know that there are quite a few disgusted ex-employees who might get organized enough to stir some shit up. (When women come together it can be scary).
I’d like to say something to the folks out there who are giving Dov “the benefit of the doubt”: “Hey, he could be the victim right?” “I mean, he’s such a great guy, those girls who are suing him just want his money.”
The man has an undeniable preoccupation with sex. That’s no secret. In every interview I’ve ever read Dov openly “endorses” sexual relationships between himself and his employees. A quote from the man himself: “Is it illegal to ask someone to masturbate, or to say to an employee, ‘Hey do you want to go to a hotel or motel and let’s - - - -?” Yeah man, it is.
Why is it so difficult to believe that this man made work a miserable place for MANY women? And I’m not talking about “prudes.” I’m talking about talented, independent, beautiful women. I’m talking about women who simply weren’t interested in sleeping with Dov. What do you think happens to employees who turn down his sexual advances? Ex-employees?
And that whole “if you don’t like it, don’t work here” attitude: What about all of the unfortunate women who signed on to work for AA before everyone realized that Dov was a pathological sex addict? Christ.
I’ll ask the skeptics this: Do you think that Dov cares how his reckless behavior affects the individuals who work at his factory? Does it seem like he’s concerned that lawsuits and boycotts caused by his harassment could end up affecting THEIR jobs?
FUCK THE BRAND THAT’S FUCKING THE PEOPLE (YOU).
-Ex Customer
Posted 04 Nov 2005 at 12:10 am ¶
mod girl wrote:
Boycott A.A.! How about starting an online petition? The way has been cleared for someone to step up and produce well- cut, curvy, better designed t-shirts for us crafty girls to screen on. He has been vocal about how he built his empire, use his model and do it better… I do not think his shop was ever “sweat free” anyway. I wonder how many people paid for working there with more than sweat? How many ideas, cuts, colours may have been ripped off too? As a Canadian I am ashamed. He could not have gone as far with his antics here. We do not tolerate such behavior. And he is his own worst enemy. Wake up asshole. You do not use soft porn to sell to women… we will get angry and not buy your stuff. This is basic marketing. Do not insult your customers. Idiot. Geez. Who is this guy’s handler anyway?
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 9:03 pm ¶
Justin wrote:
YES. TEAR THAT FUCK DOWN.
The last said it best when stated..”How many people paid for working there with more than sweat”
Posted 02 May 2006 at 3:30 pm ¶
Justin wrote:
I also don’t think turning a blind eye is the answer..the whole”if you don’t like it-leave” why leave other young impressionable teens for the wolf. Dov may state that his behavior is human and natural..and obvously sex is..but he goes beyond..into manipulation and just plan rudeness to woman who are strong enough to not put up with that shit. I also think alot of the commenters who say if you don’t like it…may have not had a direct effect of it. Sometimes thats what it take..i think from the sidelines it sounds like..oh…fun..sex masturbating ,..bla bla…but…..i think its alot darker than that.
Posted 02 May 2006 at 3:46 pm ¶