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American Apparel has issued a statement responding to the allegations that founder Dov Charney forced a teenage employee into sex—news that broke this afternoon when the employee's civil suit, asking for $250 million from the struggling company, came to light. Here's what they had to say:
We have been informed today that [redacted], a former employee of American Apparel who left the company without complaint and resigned with a letter of gratitude regarding her positive experience at the company, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in New York against the company.
Upon her resignation, [the employee] acknowledged in writing that she had no pending claims against the company and signed a severance agreement which included a full release of claims and an agreement to submit any future claims to confidential binding arbitration. All American Apparel's employees are subject to the same confidential arbitration agreement signed by [the employee] in order to protect the privacy interests of employees and former employees, and to prevent predatory plaintiffs and their attorneys from attempting to use the media to extort the company. Such an arbitration process was initiated by the company against [the employee] several weeks ago.
The company intends to file a formal complaint with the NY state bar seeking disciplinary action against [the employee's] lawyers who we believe are engaged in an illegal conspiracy to extort money from American Apparel. We are very confident that [her] claims will be promptly referred by the court to confidential binding arbitration where her claims and the company's counter-claims will be resolved, we believe fully in favor of the company.
· American Apparel's Dov Charney Hit with Sex Slave Lawsuit [Racked NY]
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