Harvey Weinstein And Movie Studio Sued By New York Attorney General

New York’s attorney general on Sunday filed a civil rights lawsuit against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, his brother and the Weinstein Company. The lawsuit has halted a potential sale of the company.

“Any sale of the company must ensure victims are adequately compensated, employees are protected, and that enablers of sexual misconduct will not be unjustly enriched,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a tweet Sunday.

The company was set to be purchased by an investment group led by Maria Contreras-Sweet, former Administrator of the Small Business Administration, for $500 million. David Glasser, the company’s chief operating officer was set to become the company’s chief executive officer, according to Deadline. The suit references the Weinstein Company’s COO, but does not use Glasser’s name. The suit alleges that the COO failed to protect the company’s employees.

“The suit, filed today in New York County Supreme Court, includes new and extensive allegations about longtime company CEO Harvey Weinstein’s vicious and exploitative mistreatment of company employees. Today’s suit includes numerous employee-victim accounts of sexual harassment, intimidation, and other misconduct,” said a statement from the attorney general’s office.

Weinstein, a former Hollywood titan, was accused of sexual assault and harassment by dozens of women. Allegations first surfaced in October after an investigative report by the New York Times.

The lawsuit accuses Weinstein of creating a culture of abuse at his company and includes a variety of specific references to the abuse.