Harvey Weinstein’s company might have wrongfully terminated the disgraced Hollywood producer. According to TMZ, Weinstein’s contract supposedly allowed for him to be sued for sexual harassment.
The report claims that Weinstein’s 2015 contract states he can get sued for any type of misconduct — including sexual harassment — and that all Weinstein needs to do is pay up and he is in the clear.
According to TMZ, the contract outlined how TWC could fine Weinstein and under what circumstances they could fire him:
According to the contract, if Weinstein “treated someone improperly in violation of the company’s Code of Conduct,” he must reimburse TWC for settlements or judgments. Additionally, “You [Weinstein] will pay the company liquidated damages of $250,000 for the first such instance, $500,000 for the second such instance, $750,000 for the third such instance, and $1,000,000 for each additional instance.”
There’s another provision … he can be fired for “the perpetuation by you [Weinstein] of a material fraud against the company.” The question … where’s the fraud? Lance Maerov, the board member who negotiated Weinstein’s 2015 contract, said in an interview — and we’ve confirmed — the Board knew Weinstein had settled prior lawsuits brought by various women, but they “assumed” it was to cover up consensual affairs. The Board’s assumption does not constitute fraud on Weinstein’s part.
More surprisingly is how TWC fired Weinstein, supposedly without giving a specific reason, which could potentially violate the terms of his contract:
And here’s the kicker. Even if Weinstein had committed fraud by not fully informing the Board of Directors, the contract says before he can be fired he has a right to mediation and if that doesn’t work, he’s entitled to arbitration. He got neither. He was summarily fired, and sources connected with Weinstein tell TMZ he was never given a specific reason.
This new revelation is likely to cause even more backlash against the Hollywood entertainment industry, which is being broadly accused of covering up Weinstein’s behavior for years.
On Thursday, another major company was implicated in Weinstein’s actions. Actress Rose McGowan, one of the alleged victims of Weinstein, claimed in a series of tweets that Jeff Bezos’ Amazon knew about her allegations against the producer: