An American Apparel lawyer says nude photos and salacious e-mails a former female employee sent to the head of the hipster company prove her lawsuit is bogus.
Irene Morales, 20, accused Dov Charney, 42, of holding her as a sex prisoner and forcing her to perform sexual acts while she worked for him, according to a suit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court earlier this month.
But the clothing giant's lawyer, Stuart Slotnick, said Friday that a trove of scantily-clad shots of Morales and e-mails "show she was stalking Mr. Charney and acted inappropriately by offering him sex acts in exchange for material possessions and money."
In the graphic e-mails, the then-teen promised the notoriously randy CEO to "be your little slave" and repeatedly asked him for gifts. In one, she coos, "Daddy's got a little naughty girl waiting for him."
The sender is identified as Irene Julia, using Morales' middle name. The photos show a woman who looks like Morales posing provocatively.
Morales' lawyer, Eric Baum, said in a statement Friday that his firm couldn't determine whether the e-mails and photos were legit or "more of American Apparel's propaganda."
"It is not unusual for victims of sexual harassment or assault to grow so demoralized that they feel the only value they offer is as a sexual object," he added. "That in no way means they deserved to be harassed and assaulted."
Baum also represents Kimbra Lo, another former employee suing American Apparel in Los Angeles.
"The more important question is how any responsible corporation could permit its CEO to engage in inappropriate sexual contact with very young, vulnerable employees rather than acting to protect its workforce," said Baum, adding that one of his clients received raunchy e-mails from Charney.
During a hearing Friday, Brooklyn Supreme Justice Bernadette Bayne didn't consider the nude photos and salacious e-mails Morales purportedly sent.
The judge also refused to toss Morales' sordid suit. But she indicated that she'll likely move the case to arbitration because Morales had signed two agreements not to sue her former employer.
"I think you should go to arbitration," she told the parties, but delayed her final ruling until a later date.
In her suit, Morales says she was held prisoner inside Charney's Chelsea pad when she turned 18 in 2008 and was forced to satisfy him sexually, almost getting choked in the process.
She is seeking for $260 million for months of coerced sex that made her an emotional wreck.
Baum said she "was traumatized both physically and psychologically" and acted illogically in continuing to communicate with her boss, as a way to "desensitize" herself from the assault.
Baum argued Friday that his client shouldn't be bound by the waiver of claims agreements because she was a minor when she signed the first and emotionally unstable when she inked the second.
"We're confident we will prevail and the case will be heard in court," he said after the hearing.
Charney conceded that the two had a brief consensual fling but claimed he never responded to her increasingly desperate missives, which date from before the alleged sex assault until weeks before she filed the suit.
The American Apparel exec has been sued in the past by a number of young female workers. None of the cases were proven in court.
Slotnick said the same lawyer represents all of the litigants and is attempting to "shake down" the company.
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