New York State Launches Weinstein Company Investigation
In New York, where native son Harvey Weinstein is already under police investigation for his alleged serial harassment and abuse against women, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced October 23 that he has opened his own investigation into Weinstein’s namesake former company. “No New Yorker should be forced to walk into a workplace ruled by sexual intimidation, harassment, or fear,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “If sexual harassment or discrimination is pervasive at a company, we want to know.”
On October 5, The New York Times reported that Weinstein had paid at least eight settlements to women who have accused him of everything from fostering an inappropriate workplace culture to rape. Over the next few days, The Weinstein Company hired lawyer John Kiernan to investigate, and fired its co-founder and co-chairman, who was said to be hampering Kiernan’s efforts.
However, according to TMZ, the employment Weintsein signed in 2015 pledged to forgive acts of misconduct if he reimbursed the company for judgement and settlement costs, and also paid a penalty, ranging from $250,000 to $1 million per offense. Weinstein has insinuated that he was thus illegally fired, and attorney Patricia Glaser is now representing him against his former employer.
Read More:Harvey Weinstein: His Career Timeline of Sexual Harassment Allegations
Per Variety, today Schneiderman’s civil rights bureau subpoenaed “all documents, records, and correspondence related to all complaints, whether formal or informal, relating to sexual harassment or other discrimination on the basis of gender or age, against any employee or management employee” at TWC.
Weinstein himself is also currently the subject of two Scotland Yard investigations — including one brought forth by actress Lysette Anthony, who claims Weinstein raped her inside her home in the late ’80s — and an additional Los Angeles investigation, launched after an unidentified Italian model and actress, now 38, accused the film mogul of raping her at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel.
The Weinstein Company was founded by brothers and former Miramax studio heads Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 2005. Last week, the latter was also accused of sexual harassment by Amanda Segel, formerly the showrunner of cancelled, TWC-produced “The Mist,” which aired on Spike TV.
Harvey Weinstein completed a one-week-long, outpatient rehabilitation program in Arizona on October 21, where he will remain for the next month to continue receiving medical care.
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