LOS ANGELES–Mancini & Associates today announced a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge has confirmed an Arbitration Award of $1,114,901 against Larry Flynt, founder and publisher of Hustler magazine, and his wholly owned company LFP, Inc. for sexual harassment and punitive damages.
Plaintiff Rene Raymond, an administrative assistant for Flynt and his company, claimed she was forced to cover up and hide Flynt’s get-togethers with alleged prostitutes from Flynt’s wife Elizabeth, also employed by the company. Flynt also sexually harassed Raymond with sexually charged jokes and comments, according to the plaintiff’s attorneys Marcus A. Mancini and Christopher Barnes of Mancini & Associates from Sherman Oaks, CA.
After listening to testimony by Raymond and several witnesses, a retired Superior Court Judge awarded Raymond $175,000 for emotional distress; $500,000 against Larry Flynt personally in punitive damages; $250,000 against LFP, Inc. for punitive damages; $188,000 in attorneys’ fees; and $1,901 in expert costs. The arbitration award also contained a specific finding, echoed by one of Flynt’s executives, that Flynt used his “deep pockets to make lawsuits go on forever.”
“Mr. Flynt holds himself out as a champion of individual civil rights. Unfortunately, the first amendment affords no protection for Mr. Flynt’s sexual harassment of employees in the workplace. The Arbitrator awarded punitive damages against both Flynt and his company for a reason. Perhaps now Mr. Flynt and his company will understand that even in the pornography business an employee has the right to be free from a hostile work environment” stated Raymond’s attorney Marcus A. Mancini.
Recently, a second case has been filed against Larry Flynt and LFP, Inc. by Cheryl Oldham, one of Raymond’s witnesses. After Mr. Flynt was informed that Ms. Oldham signed a declaration supporting Ms. Raymond, Mr. Flynt ordered Ms. Oldham into his office, told her she was “unattractive, fat and over 50 and probably couldn’t get a job anywhere else” and demoted her from administrative assistant in his Los Angeles headquarters to a receptionist in Chatsworth, California. Flynt admitted to the comment in the Raymond Arbitration.