TMZ obtained information regarding Harvey Weinstein's 2015 employment contract and reported that he may have been let go from the company's Board Of Directors illegally, due to the way the contract is worded. Allegedly, if Weinstein were to be sued for sexual harassment or misconduct, which resulted in a settlement, as long as this settlement was paid, the Weinstein Company had no problem with it.
What did Harvey's employment contract say?
According to TMZ, the employment contract states Weinstein should compensate the Weinstein Company if he was in violation of their Code of Conduct, which was specified to be by treating "someone improperly".
Weinstein would also have to pay the company damages of $250,000, increasing by $250,000 per occurrence.
Once these damages were paid, the Weinstein Company could take no further action against Harvey, meaning that the mogul would not be at risk of losing his job. TMZ claims the contract stipulates that Harvey would only be eligible for dismissal if he was convicted of a crime, or if he was indicted, neither of which has happened yet.
Did the Weinstein Company actually know?
The New York Times obtained information that Harvey's brother, co-founder of the Weinstein Company, issued a video conference last Tuesday with the help of the company's president, David Glasser. In this conference, employees of the company were told that the Board of Directors was not aware of payments made to women, which had resulted from sexual misconduct cases.
They reiterated that these claims against Harvey had come as a complete surprise to them and any suggestion otherwise was fabricated.
However, the New York Times was made aware of "interviews and internal company records" indicating that the Weinstein Company did indeed know something. Back in 2015, confidential settlements were made to women, which were referred to in emails by Weinstein himself to the Board of Directors.
The Weinstein Company has since responded by explaining it did not know the real reasons for the settlements. Instead, it thought they were to "cover up consensual affairs", rather than misconducts.
TMZ reported on the 12th October 2017 that it was informed by sources that the Weinstein Company would only have been able to fire Weinstein had he not informed the Board of Directors of paying settlements in relation to sexual harassment cases. Harvey signed his contract in 2015 and no further settlements have allegedly been made since - meaning his dismissal from the Weinstein Company was potentially illegal.
