Embattled movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sued by New York state for creating a hostile work environment at the Weinstein Co. that allegedly featured “pervasive sexual harassment,” intimidation and discrimination.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s lawsuit comes as Weinstein, 65, is seeking to sell his troubled studio to Maria Contreras-Sweet, a former Obama administration official backed by billionaire Ron Burkle. The suit may create a major obstacle for the deal.
Schneiderman said in a statement that the company’s sale might leave victims “without adequate redress, including a lack of a sufficient victims compensation fund.” While the suit isn’t aimed at blocking the sale to Contreras-Sweet’s group, the attorney general said he wants to make certain that victims aren’t harmed by the transaction.
“Any sale of the Weinstein Co. must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched,” Schneiderman said.
Weinstein, who faces a wave of sexual-assault claims stretching back to the 1970s, was ousted from his studio in October 2017 after the New York Times and the New Yorker Magazine published accounts in which women accused him of sexual harassment and rape. He has denied any non-consensual sexual activity.
_________________
Read more:
Berlinale will provide a forum to air #MeToo issues
Despite setbacks, women are closing the gender pay gap. But there’s still plenty to fight for
Why unequal pay should be as socially unacceptable as sexual harassment
_________________