Irene Morales Sues Dov Charney for $260 Million

by Jordan Yerman | March 9, 2011 at 08:57 am

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Dov Charney: American Apparel CEO Sued For Sexual Assault

Irene Morales, a former employee of American Apparel, is suing founder Dov Charney over forced-sex charges. Dov Charney is no stranger to sexual misconduct charges, and Charney's name is virtually synonymous with sleaze within the industry. Irene Morales, now 20, is seeking $260 million in damages, naming Dov Charney and the American Apparel board of directors as defendants. (Irene Morales photo: NY Post)

According to the suit, Dov Charney invited Irene Morales, who had then just turned 18, to his apartment in Manhattan, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him, before forcing her to perform other sex acts over the next few hours. Over the course of the next eight months, the abuse continued, along with promises that Morales would be promoted if she kept quiet. Eventually Irene Morales quit her job as store manager at American Apparel's Chelsea store.

American Apparel's only response to the allegations were that Irene Morales signed a contract stating that she wouldn't sue the clothing company when she quit, which is in itself eyebrow-raising.

Morales, the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants, was only 17 when she started working as a sales assistant for the clothing retailer in 2007. According to the $250 million suit filed on Monday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, her 42-year-old boss then told her he wanted to have sex with her as soon as she turned 18.

Morales' birthday fell in April 2008, and just afterwards Charney moved in for what he wanted, the suit alleges.

"[I] believed I would work in a professional environment where promotions and work advancement would be based on merit and hard work," she said. "I was extremely devastated to find out that was not the case."