Ousted American Apparel founder Dov Charney reportedly wants to buy company back

HE ALLEGEDLY sent lewd texts to female employees and made them call him “daddy”, but Dov Charney still isn’t finished.

HE’S the boss who allegedly made female employees call him “daddy”, filmed and uploaded sex acts to company computers and once sent a text to a female employee describing her as a “perfect c** target”.

Now Dov Charney, the disgraced founder and former CEO of controversial teen clothing chain American Apparel, could be about to make a stunning comeback to the company he founded in 1998.

There is growing speculation Mr Charney, who was ousted last December amid a storm of sexual harassment allegations, is preparing a bid to buy back the struggling retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in October following years of losses, workforce disputes and legal battles.

American Apparel has not been profitable since 2009, racking up more than $400 million in net losses since 2010.

Fashion news site WWD reports Mr Charney has joined forces with two or three groups to submit bids for the company, which has been valued at anywhere between $250 million and $370 million in recent analysis.

Citing inside sources, WWD reports Mr Charney is working with more than four parties, one of which is a private equity firm, with American Apparel entering into talks with one of the parties after they signed a non-binding letter of interest.

This has granted them access to the retailer’s financial documents and the value of potential offers.

An American Apparel spokesperson has since said, “We can confirm that there has been absolutely no progress and there is currently no transaction to consider, as nothing more than indications of interest have been submitted. American Apparel evaluates all indications of interest consistently, and in the ordinary course”.

Mr Charney is reportedly seizing on the last opportunity before a post-bankruptcy restructure to get back on the board of American Apparel, which took out a temporary restraining order against Mr Charney in June to prevent him from making negative statements about the company to the media or seeking removal of board members.

The brand is notorious for its sexualised advertising.

“Dov is very focused on injecting himself back into the company,” John Brooks, a former American Apparel executive, told the New York Post in October.

American Apparel’s lenders have agreed to a restructuring in which they would convert over $275 million of the company’s bonds to an equity interest in the reorganised company and provide financing for operating capital.

However, the New York Post reports American Apparel is also being circled by Authentic Brands Group, a licensing company which owns brands including Juicy Couture, Frederick’s of Hollywood and Marilyn Monroe.

The past year has seen a flurry of lawsuits filed on both sides.

Mr Charney accused American Apparel and hedge fund Standard General of defamation, while American Apparel in turn accused Mr Charney of running a “scorched earth” campaign in an attempt to regain control, the LA Times reported.

His ousting in December followed a six-month suspension, during which time he claimed Standard General, his investment partner which controls his shares in the company, had pledged to help restore his position.

Instead, he was terminated, and retail veteran Paula Schneider was named replacement CEO. “I gave them my entire life’s work and they agreed to put me back in,” he told Bloomberg at the time. “They betrayed me.”

In her first interview in the role in February, Ms Schneider made it clear she intended to clean up the mess around the brand, which is notorious for its highly sexualised imagery of young women.

American Apparel ad.

American Apparel ad.

Mr Charney still holds a 43 per cent stake in the company, but agreed to share his voting rights on the stock with Standard General as part of a deal he struck with the firm to build up his holdings.

Explosive details of Mr Charney’s alleged dealings with staff emerged in court documents filed in June by American Apparel in response to his defamation suit, as part of a broader motion intended to put a stop to Mr Charney’s “frivolous lawsuits”.

In the court declaration, American Apparel board chair Colleen Brown alleged Mr Charney “repeatedly engaged in conduct that violated the Company’s sexual harassment and anti-discrimination policy” and “engaged in conduct that repeatedly put [himself] in a position to be sued by numerous former employees for claims that include harassment, discrimination and assault”.

Ms Brown claimed that in total, such lawsuits had cost American Apparel nearly $13 million.

Among the allegations include the discovery of “voluminous evidence of Mr Charney’s sexual liaisons with employees and models ... [including] explicit emails, text messages, video and still photographs”.

American Apparel ad.

American Apparel ad.

“He sent messages that included pornographic videos (or links thereto), pornographic photographs and other nude pictures,” Ms Brown said. “Additionally, he frequently engaged in inappropriate sexual banter, infantilising women and referring to himself as ‘Daddy’.”

Mr Charney allegedly sent employees text messages that included statements such as: “Your a** in that photo is the perfect c** target!!”; “Daddy is so excited to play with the most tiny blonde c** kitten in the whole school”; “Should I unload my c*** now??? Like a filthy pig?”.

In her declaration, Ms Brown said one female sent an email to Mr Charney complaining about the work environment and “Mr Charney’s conduct in particular”.

Ms Brown writes: “In that email, the employee states, ‘First, don’t ever, ever hit or slap me in the face again. Don’t call me a s***, whore, slave or b****. Don’t call me stupid.’

“The employee also laments what she believes to be the perception of female employees at American Apparel: ‘[T]o be associated with American Apparel, especially as a woman, was once a bit of a status symbol — something to be proud of. Now it means you’re a whore ... People think we’re a bunch of empty ‘s****’ because a man we call our ‘Daddy’ [i.e., Mr Charney] has to c** all over our faces five times a day.’”

In a statement to Buzzfeed, which published the court documents in full, a lawyer for Mr Charney said “much of this information and allegations are completely false” and that the company was “desperately trying to distort public attention to the fact that Mr Charney’s firing was illegal”.

“They went through a well protected personal photo archive that no one had access to other than Mr Charney and looked though his private materials which span a period of over 30 years,” he said.

“They went through years and years of private text messages from his personal telephone between himself and his friends, some of which involved amorous conversations that were consensual and welcome in nature.”