TIME’S UP FOR YOU, HARVEY!
Schneiderman sues for ‘abusive’ workplace
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and his company are about to face some serious legal consequences for his alleged serial sexual abuse.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed suit Sunday against Weinstein, his brother, Bob, and their production company over their handling of the accusations by numerous women that Harvey abused them.
Prosecutors are seeking “to remedy a years-long genderbased hostile work environment, a pattern of quid pro quo sexual harassment and routine misuse of corporate resources for unlawful ends,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit claims.
For years, aides working for Harvey Weinstein “were exposed to and required to facilitate” sexual encounters for him “as a condition of employment,” Schneiderman charged.
The Weinstein Company “employed one group of female employees whose primary job it was to accompany HW to events and to facilitate HW’s sexual conquests,” the suit adds.
“One of the members of this entourage was flown from London to New York to teach HW’s assistants how to dress and smell more attractive,” the suit further accuses, noting that a second group of “predominantly female employees” served as Weinstein’s assistants.
Some employees were even responsible for making sure he could physically engage in sex, according to the suit.
“Two TWC employee witnesses described having to procure HW’s erectile-dysfunction shots . . . and [were] at times directed by HW to administer the injections,” the suit claims.
Weinstein’s drivers were also allegedly required to “keep condoms and erectile-dysfunction injections in the car at all times.” in preparation for his sexcapades.
“It is during these TWC-funded and -facilitated ‘personal’ encounters in his office and hotel rooms that, upon information and belief, HW engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with numerous women,” the suit says. “TWC is responsible for the unlawful conduct.”
The suit also claims that Weinstein would often brag about connections he had to the Secret Service — and make death threats to his employees.
“You don’t know what I can do,” he allegedly told several workers. “I will kill you. I will kill your family.”
Company workers knew from “observations” and “experiences” that Weinstein was capable of “fits of rage,” according to the suit, including “infliction of physical injury or worse if they did not satisfy his demands.”
Schneiderman said Sunday that victims of the alleged abuse ultimately deserve a cut of any future sale of the company so “that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched.”
“As alleged in our complaint, The Weinstein Company repeat- edly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination,” Schneiderman explained.
The AG’s office said there’s a paper trail of on-the-record complaints to the company’s human-resources department that were ignored.
“On several occasions when TWC employees complained . . . TWC took steps to separate the employee from the company while securing an NDA [nondisclosure agreement],” the suit alleges.
In response to the filing, Harvey Weinstein’s attorney, Ben Brafman, said, “A fair investigation by Mr. Schneiderman will demonstrate that many of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein are without merit.”
Speaking to Deadline Hollywood, Bob Weinstein indicated the suit could cost jobs by interfering with a sale of the company.
“We have worked really hard to see a soft landing for people who deserve it, and all the projects we have on a going-forward basis and all the ancillary people that are involved and impacted by this,” he said. “I am an eternal optimist and remain hopeful that all the parties can get together and make a deal.”