Friday, July 01, 2005

I knew it!



I knew it! Just recently I was in a couple of different discussions about American Apparel and how crazy it's getting with the pornographic advertising and how they post Penthouse in their store and stuff. When I read that Jane article a couple of years ago where the CEO, Dov Charney, masturbated in front of the reporter (apparently with her consent) I knew a sexual harassement suit couldn't be far behind. It actually took quite a while, but ol Dov's in hot water now, and deservedly so. Check this:

In his marketing, Charney has been adept at weaving his libertarian sexual attitude with his progressive labor practices. But it's another matter to make that attitude a bedrock principle of the workplace. In their sexual harassment suits, two of the women accuse Charney of exposing himself to them. One claims he invited her to masturbate with him and that he ran business meetings at his Los Angeles home wearing close to nothing. Another says he asked her to hire young women with whom he could have sex, Asians preferred. All describe him using foul language in their presence, much of it demeaning to women. Says Keith A. Fink, an attorney for one of the women suing: "The work environment there makes Animal House look like choir practice."

And they mention the article too:

The suits follow a bizarre article last year in the women's magazine Jane. Charney was described as engaging in oral sex with a female employee and masturbating in front of the reporter. Charney doesn't deny taking part in any of the activities described in the article. He says he befriended the writer over the course of the two months it took her to research the piece. "I've never done anything sexual that wasn't consensual," Charney says. The reporter, Claudine Ko, confirmed his take on events to BusinessWeek

Here's yet another juicy quote:

"It was a company built on lechery," says a former stock person. "I thought it was a male contemporary perspective on feminism, but it turns out to be just a gimmick," says another ex-employee. And another: "I made sure to stay away from the store when I knew [Charney] was coming into town. It's not one person -- he's aiming for all women."

Just check the whole article here, if you're interested:

http://www.businessweekasia.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939108_mz017.htm

And, one more product endorsement, the American Apparel panties (I love that word, but I used to hate it. Panties! Panties!) are great, and can be purchased here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is what is sounds like when Dov cries (i.e. jerks off)

-prince 2

Maya said...

Dov Charney is the Alfred Kinsey of the apparel set.

Anonymous said...

Dear Beckler,

We need some real local gossip. It is way too early on a friday for me to be this bored.

Love,
Drexler's Class

beckler said...

Local gossip, eh? I'll try, but I right now I have to go do some work involving rats and their brains.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the post about Don Charney, I am super grossed out by him, though somedays I wouldn't mind being a female version of him, I'll admit. We buy all our clothing from them and I forwarded your post to the powers that be.
xoxo
alicia

beckler said...

Yeah, I wonder how many people will start cancelling their orders. The no sweat shop/living wage thing is still in effect, though, and it's unfortunate that his roaming dick is taking all the attention away from that.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-03-17/news_feature.php

Anonymous said...

Dick cheney is just taking a verse out of the book of the worm...man don't hate on this fellow....errr, dick cheney...correction: dov charney!...baby boy just plays for keeps.....one more thing....ya'll probably thinking the worm is steppin off his game a bit cuz i keep posting my comments twice...but please...it's no accident....just you look at it once and you gotta do a double take....so i made it so ya'll just scroll down a bit and get a second helping of the worms...steeeellloooo

Antlers said...

hmmmm. one thing about charney that's as appalling as his disgusting sexual practices is his union-busting. there are reports that in his union-busting he made his workers wear armbands that read "no union" and attend anti-union rally. in addition, there is evidence that he pays his works piecemeal (by item produced) and not hourly, making his wages only living wages if workers are worked to the bone. so it's arguably not living wage paying or sweatshop free.