American Apparel board votes to fire controversial founder and CEO Dov Charney

American Apparel board votes to fire controversial founder and CEO Dov Charney
(Image credit: Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)

Years of sexual harassment lawsuits and negative publicity have finally caught up with Dov Charney. On Wednesday, American Apparel's board of directors voted to oust the company's CEO and founder due to an "ongoing investigation" into "alleged misconduct." The board appointed CFO John Luttrell as interim chief executive.

Charney will serve a contractual 30-day suspension, and then the board will fire him for cause, The Wall Street Journal reports. "We take no joy in this, but the board felt it was the right thing to do," Allan Mayer, a director of American Apparel, said in a statement. "Dov Charney created American Apparel, but the company has grown much larger than any one individual and we are confident that its greatest days are still ahead."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.