New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman filed a lawsuit on Sunday against both the Weinstein Company and its fraternal founders, according to The New York Times, suggesting that blame for the producer's alleged sexual misconduct, first reported by The New York Times in October, has spread beyond just the man himself. This new suit claims the Weinstein Company's management and board of directors "were repeatedly presented with credible evidence of HW’s sexual harassment" as well as his "use of corporate employees and resources to facilitate sexual activity with third parties." In other words, the suit alleges they were complicit in the over 80 alleged instances of sexual harassment and abuse leveled against the producer.
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According to the suit, Weinstein used female employees to help him find and spend time alone with women, had two of his employees get his injectable erectile dysfunction medication, and in the case of one of the employees, told them to administer it. The lawsuit accuses managers of failing to investigate Weinstein and failing to protect their female employees.
Ire for those who enabled Weinstein quickly followed the initial allegations, with reporter Ronan Farrow detailing the movie mogul's "army of spies." In a video for The Cut back in December, Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan said much of her anger is directed towards "all of the people that are complicit."
"That's the people that I find the most reprehensible," she added.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, and in response to the suit, one of his lawyers, Benjamin Brafman, told The New York Times that "While Mr. Weinstein’s behavior was not without fault, there certainly was no criminality, and at the end of the inquiry it will be clear that Harvey Weinstein promoted more women to key executive positions than any other industry leader."
This lawsuit halted the fire sale of the Weinstein Company, which many thought would be finalized on Sunday. However, Schneiderman worries that a sale could strand victims "without adequate redress."
"Any sale of the Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward," Schneiderman said in a news release. "And that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched."
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