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 American Apparel's board of directors suspended Charney as CEO a
year ago, citing his misuse of company funds, violation of company
policy and misuse of corporate assets, and in December the board
terminated him.
Charney's ouster was a dramatic fall from power for a clothing
trend-setter who, early in his career, won acclaim for making
apparel in the United States when the bulk of the industry was
producing overseas.
The company, with a factory in Los Angeles, operates retail stores
across the United States and in several other countries, including
Germany and China.
Charney's lawyer, Keith Fink, said in a statement many of the
allegations presented by the company were false.
"The company has engaged in an invasion of Mr. Charney's privacy in
a shameful attempt to extort him and gain leverage over him," Fink
said.
American Apparel's latest court filing presents previously
undisclosed details of a misconduct investigation. The filing
represents an effort, under California law, to prevent Charney from
bringing future lawsuits against the company.
Company attorneys filed the court papers in Los Angeles Superior
Court on Friday, the same day Charney opened a separate case by
filing a $30 million defamation lawsuit against American Apparel.
In their court papers, American Apparel attorneys said Charney
violated company policies prohibiting harassment and retaliation
against former employees.
"The company discovered voluminous evidence of Mr. Charney’s sexual
liaisons with employees and models," the company's court papers
said, adding that at least one of these "numerous" encounters took
place at his office.
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Company investigators also discovered Charney had kept videos of
these sex acts on a company server, the papers said. The company
said he also sent employees emails with pornographic videos and
photos, and accused him of using ethnic slurs against certain
employees.
Charney had for years before his ouster faced highly publicized
lawsuits accusing him of sexual harassment.
Through September 2014, the company incurred $8.2 million in insured
litigation costs and $1.2 million in uninsured costs due to
Charney's sexual liaisons, court papers said.
Earlier this month, American Apparel was granted a restraining order
against Charney preventing him, among other things, from making
negative comments about the company in the press.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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