Harvey Weinstein sued by the state of New York
The film mogul's lawyer says a "fair investigation" by the attorney general will show many of the claims are "without merit".
Monday 12 February 2018 14:24, UK
Harvey Weinstein and his company have been sued by the state of New York over allegations of "pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination".
The lawsuit, filed by New York's attorney general Eric Schneiderman, alleges Weinstein was "hostile" and threatening towards female employees.
It comes after dozens of claims of sexual harassment made against the producer following exposes by The New York Times and The New Yorker, which claimed he had been sexually abusing and harassing women for decades.
Weinstein has denied all accusations of unwanted sexual contact, and said some incidents described in reports were consensual.
In court papers, Mr Schneiderman alleges the The Weinstein Company "repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination".
In response to the lawsuit, Weinstein's lawyer said a "fair investigation" by the attorney general will show many of the allegations are "without merit".
He said that while his client's behaviour "was not without fault", there was "no criminality".
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The lawsuit states that to work for Weinstein was "to work under a persistent barrage of gender-based obscenities, vulgar name-calling, sexualised interactions, threats of violence, and a workplace general hostile to women".
Schneiderman's investigation found that employees had been subjected to various verbal threats from Weinstein, such as "I will kill you and your family" and "you don't know what I can do".
In one case, the investigation found that "in a fit of rage against one female employee, he yelled that she should leave the company and make babies since that was all she was good for".
It says the company "must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enables will be unjustly enriched".
Schneiderman had already launched a civil rights probe into the New York City-based company in October, after Weinstein was fired by the powerhouse he founded with his brother Robert.
Weinstein .
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