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Dov Charney

American Apparel chief facing second harassment lawsuit

Dov Charney is facing a second legal action, after a second employee claims she was sexually harassed by the 41-year-old.

THE FOUNDER and chief executive of American Apparel is face a second claim for sexual harassment, after another former employee of the clothing retailer initiated legal action against him.

In a suit filed with the Superior Court of Los Angeles, 20-year-old Kimbra Lo claimed Charney had invited her to his apartment in order to discuss a potential career as a model and photographer – but then insisted that the meeting be held in a bedroom.

There, while wearing just a towel, he stripped and attempted to have sex with her, Lo claims – adding that she tried to resist him, but was afraid to do so.

The Daily Mail adds that in later weeks, Charney sent her explicit text messages, and asked her to send back photographs of herself.

The case comes just a fortnight after an 18-year-old former sales clerk, Irene Morales, claimed Charney had held her captive in his apartment and demanded that Morales be his ‘sex slave’.

Morales claimed that his advances to her began when she was 17, but added that the 41-year-old CEO had not tried to initiate a physical relationship until she turned 18.

Last week, Morales – now 20 – said she had not filed the case any earlier because she thought Charney’s behaviour was considered the norm in the fashion industry.

That case was filed in the Brooklyn Supreme Court – meaning Charney will now have to face simultaneous claims on both sides of the US.

The cases are not the first sexual harassment cases Charney has faced, however, but none of the previous charges brought again him have been proven.

Charney, who set up the American Apparel firm himself in 1991, is known for regularly holding business meetings in just his underwear.

“There is no evidence to say that you can’t walk around in your underwear all day anywhere in the United States of America,” he has previously said.

His company is also known for its sometimes risqué advertising.