‘Jewish hustler’—potty mouth and pervert—means no offense

Another lawsuit against Charney

When I read about the latest lawsuit, filed last week, against American Apparel founder Dov Charney, I thought there must have been a mistake. It sounded too much like previous lawsuits: Charney allegedly had screamed at a female employee, Jeneleen Floyd, to pretend to masturbate; she got offended and refused but another colleague obliged. Turns out this is a recurring theme:

Floyd is just the newest member of a rapidly growing sorority, having filed the fifth suit against American Apparel for sexually explicit offenses. Though so far no one has had a jury trial against American Apparel, Charney has freely admitted he uses words like “slut” and “c*nt” around the office, saying that they’re not necessarily meant pejoratively: “some of us love sluts,” he said in a recent deposition. He’s also open about conducting meetings in his underwear and posting pornographic magazine images in his stores.

Indeed, the self-styled “Jewish hustler” has shown a real penchant for perversion, quite memorably telling The Jewish Journal after being served with the first lawsuit:

“I could pull my penis out right now, and I guarantee you no one would be offended.”

Glad he cleared that up. But, mores aside, in what world would business leaders flash their signs of covenant without causing offense?