L.A.'s bad biz boys

Dov Charney and Joe Francis on the same day? Say what you will, but they're two of the town's most successful entrepreneurs - as long as you keep plenty of lawyers on hand. Charney heads American Apparel, which recently went public and just came out with its 10-K. Footnoted.org's Michelle Leder got a look at the filing - specifically the pending litigation section. "From time to time, American Apparel is the subject of labor related claims filed by current and former employees with the courts and regulatory agencies," the filing dutifully notes. There's the sexual harassment suit filed by former employee Mary Nelson, who alleges that she was wrongfully terminated, and subjected to harassment and discrimination based upon her gender and other claims related to her tenure at American Apparel. (She claims in a complaint that her boss made her work life miserable with unwelcome sexual comments and suggestive signals.) The trial has been stayed, according to the 10-K.

Three other complaints are cited, though the details are vague (in some cases only last names are used). Perhaps more serious are claims by Navigators Insurance, the company that provides directors and officers liability coverage, that it isn't obligated to cover the Nelson lawsuit because it alleges that American Apparel provided “false representations” when it took out the policy. While the dispute had been disclosed in the past, there are more details. One more thing from the filing: Last month the company received a request from the SEC to provide information concerning its acquisition. (AA was purchased by Endeavor Acquisition, a so-called blank check company that has no purpose other than to purchase a business.)

As for "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis, he's come up with archival footage of none other than Ashley Alexander Dupre (aka Kristen), the NY call girl of Eliot Spitzer fame. Dupre appeared in a 2003 "Girls Gone Wild" Spring Break production during a weekend in Miami celebrating her 18th birthday, according to Francis, who himself is just out of jail. From the LAT:

The discovery was a surprise to Francis. Just this morning, he'd offered Dupre $1 million to host his 2008 Girls Gone Wild Spring Break Tour and pose for his new GGW magazine. But he wisely withdrew that costly offer when someone – he won't say who – tipped him off to the fact that he already had sexy footage of Dupre. In the news release, Francis likened Dupre to "a cloud that keeps circling back over the landscape."

I'll say.