Wave of lawsuits hit Weinstein

OUSTED Weinstein Co. exec David Glasser is suing Bob Weinstein and the Weinstein Company board for $85 million, saying they “scapegoated” him to cover up their failure to contain Harvey Weinstein’s abuse. Glasser, who was TWC’s president and chief operating officer before his ouster last week, has retained law firm Sauer & Wagner to file a wrongful termination lawsuit. His attorney Eve Wagner said, “Throughout his tenure at TWC, Mr. Glasser worked tirelessly to protect the employees of the company from Mr. Weinstein’s frequent outbursts.” Glasser, who joined TWC in 2008 was canned late last Friday “for cause” by the TWC board. Meanwhile, billionaire Ron Burkle met with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman about a $500 million deal to buy the company. Earlier this month, Schneiderman had filed suit against Harvey, Bob and TWC, saying the company and its executives failed “to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination.” If a sale goes forward, the AG wants to ensure that a robust fund is established to compensate victims with sums up to $40 million. Meanwhile, Harvey has responded to a class action lawsuit, saying of Gwyneth Paltrow who claims he harassed her during filming “Emma” in 1994, “Paltrow was not so offended that she refused to work with Weinstein again (on 1998’s ‘Shakespeare in Love’), nor did her career suffer as a result of her rebuffing his alleged advances.” His rebuttal also cites Meryl Streep as saying, “Weinstein had always been respectful to her in their working relationship.” Streep then responded with fury ripping Weinstein as “pathetic” for twisting her words.