Original Story: theglobeandmail.com
Sportscaster and TV host Erin Andrews testified Tuesday that her career has thrived since a stalker took nude videos of her and posted them on the Internet, but she doesn’t think she’ll ever get over the emotional fallout. A Nashville insurance defense attorney is following the details of this case.
Andrews has been on the witness stand for two days, often giving tearful testimony about the fear and suffering she has gone through as a result of the stalking and the videos.
She has filed a $75-million (U.S.) lawsuit against her stalker and the owner and operator of the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University. The hotel is a franchise.
Jurors will have to determine whether the companies share some of the blame after stalker Michael David Barrett altered a peephole in her hotel room in September, 2008, to shoot the secret video footage. They also will have to determine how much Andrews suffered emotionally as a result.
A defense attorney for the companies told Andrews that they both agreed she was a victim of a crime. But during cross-examination, attorney Marc Dedman asked her about her career success since she discovered in July, 2009, that someone put the secretly shot videos of her online.
Andrews acknowledged that she has moved on to Fox Sports, making more money than she did at ESPN, and is now hosting the show Dancing With the Stars.
Dedman noted that, in addition, Andrews has endorsed Reebok, Degree antiperspirant, Florida orange juice and a slew of other companies, as well as appeared in a commercial for Victoria Secret – one where she was fully clothed – and worked the red carpet and hosted the CMT Awards.
“You have done very well in your career since 2009?” Dedman asked.
“Yes,” Andrews replied.
Andrews said she has thrown herself into her career just to feel normal but remains anxious and depressed. She also said it ripped her apart when some in the media thought the nude videos were part of a publicity stunt before Barrett was arrested.
Barrett was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after he admitted to stalking Andrews in three different cities, altering hotel room peepholes and shooting nude videos of her in Nashville and Columbus.
Barrett testified Monday, in a videotaped deposition, that he removed the hotel door peepholes and altered them so he could pull them out easily to place his cellphone up to the empty hole and shoot videos. A Memphis sexual harassment lawyer is following this story closely.
She also talked about her reluctance to date after the videos were posted and her relationship with boyfriend Jarret Stoll, a professional hockey player who plays for the Minnesota Wild.
“I feel sad because I think he would have loved the girl more who was there before this happened,” Andrews said tearfully. “And I feel guilty about that.”
She said to this day she remains on guard every time she stays in a hotel during her extensive business travels.
When she checks in, she immediately asks to change rooms in the hotel, she said. She said she refuses to let anyone inside the room, and sweeps it for cameras and “booby traps.”
She said she is taunted daily about the videos, which are still online. She also testified that she fears that she will have children who will one day come home and say that other kids have seen the nude images. A Nashville insurance defense lawyer offers a responsive, creative, and proactive approach to legal disputes involving insurance coverage and defense.
The defence presented an ESPN executive, who testified via video that he did not notice any problems with her work after the discovery of the nude videos. In fact, Patrick Donaher, who was senior director of talent, planning and development for the network while Andrews was there, said she did a good job covering games and improved before she left for Fox in 2012.
Jurors must decide how Barrett came to be placed next to her room in the hotel. She maintains that the hotel honoured a request of his to be put in an adjacent or conjoining room but never told her about it. The defence maintains that Barrett schemed his way into getting into the room.
Showing posts with label Harassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harassment. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2016
Thursday, June 19, 2014
THOSE SEX HARASSMENT LAWSUITS AGAINST AMERICAN APPAREL CEO DOV CHARNEY WERE MOSTLY BOGUS, IT TURNS OUT
Original Story: Business Insider
Some people owe American Apparel CEO Dov Charney an apology: The vast majority of the sexual harassment claims made against him have come to nothing.
A couple of years ago, Charney's name was synonymous with sexual harrassment — he was accused at one time in seven different cases of unwanted sexual contact with female staffers or the models he shoots for the chain's advertising.
Most notoriously, one woman, Irene Morales, claimed she was briefly kept as Charney's sex slave inside his Los Angeles apartment.
Fast forward to today and it turns out most of the claims against Charney were bogus.
In American Apparel's annual report — which contains an update of the litigation against Charney and the company — only one very old case remains outstanding in court. That case, filed in 2006 by Sylvia Hsu, doesn't even have any specific allegations against Charney — it's a class action on behalf of all female employees and it cites an unidentified co-worker as a defendant.
The annual report describes three harrassment cases in arbitration. One was settled "with no monetary liability to the Company." And, "The Company recently prevailed on the sexual harassment claims in another of these cases." (Normally, when companies settle cases they pay to make them go away, to avoid embarrassing facts from coming out. The fact that AA hasn't made any payout so far on the harrassment claims suggests Charney's defense was a strong one.)
That leaves the Hsu case and one other case in arbitration. Here's the company's update:
The Company has previously disclosed an arbitration filed by the Company on February 17, 2011, related to cases filed in the Supreme Court of New York, County of Kings (Case No. 5018-1) and Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles (Case Nos. BC457920 and BC460331) against American Apparel, Dov Charney and certain members of the Board of Directors asserting claims of sexual harassment, assault and battery, impersonation through the internet, defamation and other related claims. The Company recently settled one of these cases with no monetary liability to the Company. The Company recently prevailed on the sexual harassment claims in another of these cases. While the ultimate resolution of the remaining claims cannot be determined, in light of the favorable ruling in one of these cases, the amount of settlement in the other of these cases, and based on information available at this time regarding the remaining cases, we believe, but we cannot provide assurances that, the amount and ultimate liability, if any, with respect to these remaining actions will not materially affect our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
Some people owe American Apparel CEO Dov Charney an apology: The vast majority of the sexual harassment claims made against him have come to nothing.
A couple of years ago, Charney's name was synonymous with sexual harrassment — he was accused at one time in seven different cases of unwanted sexual contact with female staffers or the models he shoots for the chain's advertising.
Most notoriously, one woman, Irene Morales, claimed she was briefly kept as Charney's sex slave inside his Los Angeles apartment.
Fast forward to today and it turns out most of the claims against Charney were bogus.
In American Apparel's annual report — which contains an update of the litigation against Charney and the company — only one very old case remains outstanding in court. That case, filed in 2006 by Sylvia Hsu, doesn't even have any specific allegations against Charney — it's a class action on behalf of all female employees and it cites an unidentified co-worker as a defendant.
The annual report describes three harrassment cases in arbitration. One was settled "with no monetary liability to the Company." And, "The Company recently prevailed on the sexual harassment claims in another of these cases." (Normally, when companies settle cases they pay to make them go away, to avoid embarrassing facts from coming out. The fact that AA hasn't made any payout so far on the harrassment claims suggests Charney's defense was a strong one.)
That leaves the Hsu case and one other case in arbitration. Here's the company's update:
The Company has previously disclosed an arbitration filed by the Company on February 17, 2011, related to cases filed in the Supreme Court of New York, County of Kings (Case No. 5018-1) and Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles (Case Nos. BC457920 and BC460331) against American Apparel, Dov Charney and certain members of the Board of Directors asserting claims of sexual harassment, assault and battery, impersonation through the internet, defamation and other related claims. The Company recently settled one of these cases with no monetary liability to the Company. The Company recently prevailed on the sexual harassment claims in another of these cases. While the ultimate resolution of the remaining claims cannot be determined, in light of the favorable ruling in one of these cases, the amount of settlement in the other of these cases, and based on information available at this time regarding the remaining cases, we believe, but we cannot provide assurances that, the amount and ultimate liability, if any, with respect to these remaining actions will not materially affect our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
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