260 million dollars 'sex slave' lawsuit thrown out of court

London, Mar 22 (ANI): A 260-million-dollar sex-slave lawsuit against American Apparel founder Dov Charney has been tossed out by a Brooklyn judge and sent to arbitration.

Irene Morales, 21, had claimed that the CEO held her captive in his Manhattan pad and compelled her to perform sex acts on him, in a lawsuit filed a year ago.

But Justice Bernadette Bayne threw the case out of court and ruled that the allegations made by Morales be heard behind closed doors in arbitration.

The Judge agreed with the claim of Charney's lawyer that since a California court had already ordered the sexual harassment claim to arbitration, a New York court was unable to overrule it.

"It took a while, but the right result was reached," the Daily Mail quoted attorney Stuart Slotnick as telling DNAinfo.

"We're happy to see that the frivolous claims are going to be heard in the proper venue."

Morales's allegations have already been undermined by a trove of explicit pictures and messages she sent to her boss, which were made public during the controversial litigation.

She had asserted that the 43-year-old demanded that she send him 'sexually explicit' photographs, text messages and emails, which made her become so 'nervous and depressed' that she suffered an emotional breakdown.

"He informed her that if she wanted to remain employed and be advanced by the company she would have to engage in sexual acts with him as soon as she turned 18 years old," the suit added.

Just after her 18th birthday in April 2009, Morales divulged that she was invited to Charney's downtown Manhattan apartment.

According to the court documents, Charney appeared at the door wearing only his underpants and instantly dragged her inside.

She claimed that he forced her to go on her knees and perform a sex act just inside the front door, 'then he dragged her into his bedroom, threw her on to the bed, got on top of her and forced her to perform' another sex act - 'nearly suffocating her in the process.'

"She was, to all intents and purposes, held prisoner in his apartment for several hours and forced to perform additional sex acts upon defendant Charney."

These allegedly included an attempt to sodomise the teenager.

The former saleswoman, who joined the company at 17, also sued American Apparel and its directors, insisting that they failed to stop Charney from acting as a 'sexual predator'.

Morales' lawyer Eric Baum, said that he would appeal the judge's 'inaccurate decision'.

"The California case and the New York case are separate," he told the New York Post.

"The California case involves a blog impersonation and the New York case involves sexual harassment.

"Whether this case is heard in court or in arbitration, we intend to fight for the rights of Irene Morales. We will use all legal means necessary to ensure this does not happen to other teenage employees," he added. (ANI)

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