Harvey Weinstein Staffers Forced To Aid 'Sexual Conquests': Suit

NEW YORK, NY — New York's attorney general filed a lawsuit Sunday aiming to halt the sale of The Weinstein Company, accusing its executives of looking the other way while its former boss, Harvey Weinstein, harassed and abused women who worked for him.

The company and its board of directors — including Robert Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein's brother — "acquiesced" to Weinstein's manipulative and sexually violent behavior, failing to investigate him even as internal complaints and settlements mounted, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman alleges in the complaint.

The lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Manhattan brings charges against the company and both Weinstein brothers under state civil and human rights laws. Schneiderman also asks the court to intervene in the pending sale of The Weinstein Company and force the firm to pay compensation to Harvey Weinstein's alleged victims.

"Any sale of The Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched," Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in a statement. "Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear."

Schneiderman's 39-page court filing adds to the mountain of allegations against Weinstein, whose alleged sexual misconduct was first detailed in October by The New York Times. Weinstein was fired from his post as the Manhattan-based Weinstein Company's co-chairman and subsequently resigned from the board of directors.

Schneiderman's complaint details how Weinstein allegedly harassed and assaulted some of his female employees and enlisted others in his "sexual conquests." Weinstein's "assistants were exposed to and required to facilitate (Weinstein's) sex life as a condition of employment," the complaint says.

The lawsuit recounts incidents of Weinstein making advances on interns and staffers in hotel rooms, sometimes touching them or forcing them to watch him masturbate. He forced silence on employees with sometimes violent threats, the suit alleges, telling them on several occasions, "I will kill you" or "I will kill your family."

Meanwhile, The Weinstein Company's executives, including its director of human resources, never formally investigated complaints of sexual harassment against Weinstein, the lawsuit alleges. On one occasion, an assistant to Weinstein saw that her complaint against him was forwarded directly to his email address, the complaint says.

Robert Weinstein, the firm's co-chairman, knew of at least some complaints against his brother but took no action to discipline him or restrict his behavior to prevent further abuse, the suit alleges.

Schneiderman started investigating The Weinstein Company in October, shortly after Weinstein was dismissed from his leadership post. The NYPD is investigating at least one rape accusation against Weinstein, but no criminal charges have been brought against him despite probes in other major cities.

The Weinstein Company's board of directors is reportedly looking to sell the company, reportedly for less than $500 million. Schneiderman's lawsuit has put a possible deal with the investor Maria Contreras-Sweet in jeopardy, which was thought likely to have saved the company from bankruptcy, CNN reported Sunday.

Schneiderman wants any sale of the company to include the creation of a victims compensation fund and ensure no financial windfall for the executives who let Weinstein get away with the alleged abuse.

In a statement Sunday night, an attorney for Weinstein, Ben Brafman, said the disgraced executive continues to deny any criminal wrongdoing, even though his "behavior was not without fault." Brafman said there was "zero discrimination" at The Weinstein Company or Miramax, the film studio the Weinstein brothers founded before starting their eponymous firm.

"If the purpose of the inquiry is to reform the film industry, Mr. Weinstein will embrace the investigation," Brafman said, according to a copy of the statement posted to Twitter. "If the purpose however is to scapegoat Mr. Weinstein, he will vigorously defend himself."

(Lead image: Harvey Weinstein is seen in Los Angeles in 2014. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)