Open letter to the newly appointed management at American Apparel
Dear Jewish Business News,
I read an article this morning discussing claims that current and former members of the board at American Apparel conspired to remove the founder.
Please read my note below and do whatever you feel is right. Thank you for your time.
STATEMENT:
This is an open letter to the newly appointed management by NY hedge fund Standard General at American Apparel. There has been a lot of discussion lately accusing former chief financial officer John Luttrell of mismanaging finances and fraud. I am a former creative of almost 5 years from the company’s factory and headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles. I stopped working for the brand in June 2013 and began another job at Perry Ellis International with Cynthia Erland and Roberta Oglakhchyan. Erland offered me security and a place within American Apparel in the future after being approached by her fellow conspirators in exchange for information on Dov Charney and company. I have stood by quietly and observed these events unfold over the last few months but cannot just watch any longer.
As of February 2015, Cynthia Erland is the new VP of Marketing and Roberta Oglakhchyan was just announced as Director of PR at American Apparel. We had several conversations throughout that past summer I worked for Erland where she spoke freely of how Allan Mayer, a member of the board of directors, was conspiring to remove it’s former CEO and founder to replace with Paula Schneider. Check out this article about him dated June 19, 2014 here. He’s named co-chairman immediately after Charney is ousted. Mayer co-authored “Spin: How To Turn the Power of the Press to Your Advantage” and sure found a way to spin this story around.
Almost half a year passed after working for Cynthia Erland and slowly but surely the firings began and staff were replaced by those infiltrating the brand. These individuals have been planning a hostile takeover of the largest clothing manufacturer in North America for much longer than the public has been lead on to believe and even worse, right before their eyes. This group has been biding their time and now are reaping in shares, bonuses and much more at the expense of employees whom are without work after almost 10 years at the factory. In addition, they have been using the stolen power of the brand’s voice and following to divert attention toward truth and what has really been happening.
Not only has their been mass layoffs of almost 200 workers in the factory but accusations of mistreatment and retaliation after employees were observed meeting to discuss their rights and latest concerns about management. They’ve taken it upon themselves to fire several dozen other types of employees whom have worked for the brand almost a decade or more and have a connection to it’s former CEO and founder. Anyone who opposes the hidden agenda fueled by shady NY hedge fund Standard General and owner Soo Kim is being removed from the company.
Dov Charney was offered a multi-million dollar deal for his stake at the company and when refused Luttrell and team launched a smear campaign to oust the former CEO and founder and set the scene for a sale in the near future. I can no longer stand aside and allow these injustices to prevail. How can someone who has been lying, deceiving, extorting and conspired to commit a crime be the new CEO at American Apparel? How dare Paula Schneider parade around on May Day and say the LA based brand is a “company that does the right thing, ” when she has not been. Shame on you!
These individuals used and exploited myself for their own personal gains to extract information about my former employers and much more. Also, I was underpaid and delayed for compensation on several occasions. This has caused severe emotional distress, anxiety and the inability to sleep due to how I have been manipulated and lied to time after time by someone with no shame and a lack of conscience.
I stand by these statements and urge those that care about made in usa and those that have made it all happen over the years to please consider this very seriously and ask questions about Standard General and what’s really going on at this brand. This new management should be under investigation not running the company.
You can destroy the founder and image but an idea can never be stopped. There is already those who believe in the truth. Hundreds of former and current workers marched in support of these efforts outside the factory on May 1st in DTLA!
Please check out saveamericanapparel.com for a petition, videos and more information.
By Raf Akopyan
Read more about: Allan Mayer, American Apparel, American Apparel Inc, Business/Finance, CEO, Charney, clothing, Cynthia Erland, DOV, Dov Charney, John Luttrell, NY hedge fund Standard General
$300,000,000.00 (yes 3000 million) lost. But let’s give Charney another few years to “play around” with demeaning /degrading ads of young women to sell his products.
Why were you silent during those times? Where is your moral outrage over multiple sex allegations?
Where are your business ethics over lost shareholder value while the boss did his thing?
Pretty sad story but don’t pretend that all was well at AA and a drastic change was not called for.
Well done, Mr. Akopyan. It takes a lot of heart to publish an open letter like this.
My daughter and two of her friends worked at an American apparel store for the last few years of high school. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience for her, (and for me as a mother) to participate in something fashion related that also has a bigger social purpose. She used to work as much as she was allowed to by law, even after hours on her own time, sometimes forgoing Saturday night parties (unheard of for her) so she could be more involved at the store. I remember that after visiting the factory in Los Angeles in 2012 and meeting Dov Charney as well as several of the factory workers, she came back home with such passion and excitement for her own plans for the future.
I think that what is happening to Mr. Charney is awful. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have built something so special and so important for so many people and have it taken away from you, while your face is rubbed in the mud all over the media. I have never met Mr. Charney myself but I believe it does take a very unique character to create a company like American Apparel. Naturally, while my daughter was working at the store I was concerned about the sexual harassment allegations. However, the more I read about it and the more I spoke to my daughter, I realized that I could not morally condemn someone for what I didn’t know firsthand. As my husband is a lawyer, I also am acutely aware of the lawsuit culture in the United States, so I am careful to not get swept away with media before knowing the facts. I felt that the advertising was creative and unique, though sometimes it did go over the line of tastefulness. It seemed that they had evolved in the last few years in a positive way.
I wish Mr Akopyan, Mr Charney and the workers of American Apparel the very best of luck. My family and I are rooting for you. Truth and goodness will prevail.
I have worked for American Apparel for over five years and
will forever be grateful to my bosses (District Managers, Department Mangers)
for providing me with great opportunities and responsibility and to my
colleagues (store and corporate level) who I am proud to call my friends.
But I have no thanks for Dov Charney. He is a bully, a
tyrant, a hatemonger and a sadist. When I first met him I was full of passion
for what I believed to be a great company and he (along with his cronies, who
included Jan Willenm Hubner, the greatest biggot I’ve met who built his
reputation on insulting people’s appearances and ways of life) crushed any
respect I once held for him and his team.
He doesn’t care about his factory workers other than using
them as pawns for his own gain. During the opening of his distribution center
in 2013, he threatened and fired blue-collar workers who refused to work 7 days
a week 12 hours a day with only a 15 and then 30 minute meal break. He also
terrorized and harassed his white collar workers, whose leaders stood by idly
ignoring our cries for help due to the abuse at the hands of a madman, because
they themselves didn’t want to be subject to Dov’s wrath.
If American Apparel was Game of Thrones, Dov Charney would
be Aerys Targaryen the Mad King, setting fire to his kingdom and incinerating
all of its inhabitants. We have stood by and watched Dov Charney make terrible
decisions over these past couple of years, tarnishing once an admirable brand
and running the company’s finances into ruin.
Mrs G S I have witnessed Dov Charney scream at young store employees (both male and female) who earn minimum wage, forcing them to change their clothes or wash make-up off their faces in the store bathroom because he didn’t like their appearance.
I have also witnessed him hit on underage girls and have had colleagues quit because they were made so uncomfortable by his advances. He called his latest Personal Assistant his Chinese Slave.
People applauded him for living day and night at his new districution center in 2013, but they didn’t mention the fact he paraded around the office hallways in a towel after showering in the bathroom and kept a dildo at his bedside which he waved around at employees walking by his office-turned-bedroom.
I hid these facts from my parents because even though I’m not a high-schooler, they would never let me work for a company led by such a pervert.
Thankfully Dov Charney was kind and respectful to your daughter and her friends.
when you discover that the AA board-member and the man behind the scenes engineering charneys ouster is someone who makes a living manipulating the media and playing with the public perception, it makes you question the authenticity of the anti-charney comments here.
in 2010 this board-member sued his own friend and accused him of cheating stock-holders out of their money. perhaps he realized how easy it is to raid a corporation and figured he’ll have a go at himself.
finally, charney, while he may have done wrong, did it in the course of building a business with a culture that was unique in corp. america. conversely, what these greedy clowns are doing is predatory and an example of everything that is wrong with capitalism.
nothing is being built except a couple of very rich peoples bank accounts.
@oymericanoypparel My comments are authentic. I am simply a low ranking worker at HQ who is watching from the sidelines with my colleagues. I have never been paid overtime and have not received a pay raise in two years, but consider myself lucky, as many workers at corporate are still on minimum wage, even when their incompetent managers have received quarter million dollar bonuses by their buddy Dov when the company was tanking.
I don’t care for the new management at all, but this is corporate America. The American Dream clearly is a farce. At least the new management don’t harass us to the point of anxiety and depression, but instead allow us to take national holidays off work to spend time with family and are offering us options like a 401k.
You say nothing is being built but a couple of very rich people’s bank accounts, but what was the case before? Maybe if Dov and his crew behaved themselves and played nice in the workplace, it would still be their bank accounts growing. But now that he is no longer getting his way, he is trying to destroy from the outside what he once built instead of gracefully bowing out and watching his legacy live on.
AmAppEmp your comments don’t ring true. as “simply a low ranking worker” you were paid way better than the average in this industry. to claim you are bitter about that is just weird.
you write the american dream is a farce. clearly, you are not on the right side of anything when it comes to the bigger picture. that is just the type of thinking that opens the floor for hijackers and screw-balls.
oymericanoypparel AmAppEmp For the area I work in, I am paid well below industry average, but I am certainly not bitter about that. If I don’t like it, then I can leave and find a new job, just like everyone else around here.
All our stories are different, but we are all entitled to our opinions. I am simply writing of my personal experience so far at American Apparel.
My colleagues and I all wish this nonsense and drama would end so we could get on with our work and try and make this company a success instead of a laughing stock.
I have no allegiance to the old American Apparel nor the new American Apparel. All I know for sure is that Dov was not a good man. If people actually conspired to overthrow him, then I applaud them for finally taking a stand against a bad man.
http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Turn-Power-Press-Advantage/dp/0895264110
I commend whistleblower Raf for coming forward. As a shareholder, I am appalled that Paula Schneider became CEO of a public company by conspiring with board members, the CFO, and other executives. They have defrauded shareholders. How can such corruption occur so openly?
ALaytner ALaytner You are making misleading statements. For your information, anyone can be sued for anything, including sexual harrassment. And some individuals actually came back to work for the company after filing and settling their lawsuits. Even straight men have sued for sexual harrassment because the word on the street was that crying wolf was an easy way to make money.
You also raise a good question. If the board found these allegations of sexual harrassment had some merit, why then did they keep Dov as CEO for so long?
In fact, the Board of Directors wrote in their proxy statement released last year immediately before turning the tables on Dov, they stated that his roles as Chairman and CEO was “in the best interest of the company” and “provided leadership” for the board and management of the company.
Most of the members had been board members for years. They were aware of all of the allegations. They are also aware of the millions in losses incurred by the company as a result of the incompetence of executives like John Lutrell, and yet refused to let Dov fire these overly paid executives.
AmAppEmp Mrs G S AmAppEmp Mrs G S Hi, I worked with Dov and many other employees at the distribution center in La Mirada and I never saw him walking around in a towel waving around a dildo. Do you have any proof to substantiate your statements? Dov had several assistants, and one was Chinese, but I never heard him call her his “slave.” Perhaps you should get his “slave” on the record before claiming that your statements are true.
I would also like to mention that none of us, including Dov, would’ve had to be at La Mirada if the reckless CFO JOHN LUTRELL had not forced the company to acquire this distribution center. Our distribution was functioning perfectly well at headquarters. Lutrell’s pet project cost the company millions, and he never even attempted try to make the center operate at even a mediocre level.
AmAppEmp You express zero concern for the mistreatment of factory workers under the direction of Paula Schneider. Anyone thought to be a union sympathizer has been bullied incessantly by upper management and security. Paula even hired union busters to intimidate workers from exercising their right to demand fair working conditions and voice concerns about their working conditions. Paula was even emboldened to violate the WARN act and even stooped so low as to coerce illiterate workers into signing their rights away. Shame on you.
http://nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employee-rights
AryaStark AmAppEmp Mrs G S I was there along with my colleagues for months cleaning up the mess, I saw and heard those things myself. Not paid by anyone to write what I have written here. There is no shame in what I have expressed, just as there is no shame in what you are free to express.
NailHead “How can such corruption occur so openly?” just like that! these people don’t give a damn about what people say. they don’t think like you and me.
this is a david and goliath story with a twist: the goliath has executed an orchestrated campaign to make the david look like the big evil one. they did this by manipulating the media and public opinion.
AryaStark AmAppEmp I express no concern for the factory workers in my post, because there is no mistreatment of them.
I work in the same building as them, do you? What mistreatment do you speak of? People getting laid off?
That is happening in every department and has happened every year since the company started. It happens in all companies and industries.
The employees that were laid off were offered severance packages, something Dov never has done, unless it was to shut someone up.
The factory workers wanted to join a union years ago and Dov denied them that right, so why now?
Again, you keep bringing shame into this, but why should I feel shame for speaking of my personal experience in relation to this fiasco? Those of us who have worked close to Dov for years and agree that his dismissal was long overdue have a voice as well.
AmAppEmp AryaStark Mrs G S
this clown keeps talking about his “right” to express his opinion. get over yourself and stop trying to turn yourself into a victim that needs a right to anything. you make claims that you can’t substantiate and haven’t addressed any of the points made here in the article, comments or, for that matter, in the many articles on bloomberg, buzzfeed and the WSJ.
oymericanoypparel AmAppEmp AryaStark Mrs G S Very articulate argument, thank you sir.
It’s sad when people claim they are “going to war”, but don’t know how to take a fight.
I’m not here to regurgitate the bullshit spewed in all of those baseless articles.
I suppose I’ll take my “victim playing” comments elsewhere, seeing as you are getting terribly upset and only appear to be repeating hearsay, instead of sharing your own personal experience on the matter.
Best of luck in all your future endeavors; clearly you have a blossoming future ahead of you, living the American Dream, but refusing the right of free speech to your comrades.
unfortunately, this ship has already sailed. here’s what we can expect next: standard general forces AA into bankruptcy and takes ownership as the main debtor. they then sell the company for a profit.
for a play-by-play, just google: “standard general” radioshack
I suspect that the commentor known as AMAPPEMP is a middle aged CATFISH crony hired to regurgitate a compilation of stories for Cynthia Erland, Allan Mayer or SG.
1. The shortened version of American Apparel commonly used by employees is “AA”, NOT “AMAPP”. In ten years of working at AA, I have never heard an employee in any dept or country refer to AA as “AmApp”. This commentor is an outsider that is more familiar with American Apparel stock market symbol, which is APP. There is no way a young person working 5+ years would refer to themselves using AmAPP.
2. The white collar workers have , except for a handful, been extremely apathetic to everything. Which makes me ask the question, why would a self proclaimed “lowly paid” millenial go through the trouble of creating a Log In and continually make extremely long comments? Also, I’ve never heard a Millenial worker gripe about a 401K, but I have certainly heard many a middle aged person make such comments.
3. This person doesn’t write like any millenial (even an educated one). AmAppEmp’s use of language is stiff/formal and lacks an authentic feel.
4. AmAppEmp claims that factory workers have not been harassed by new management. I invite AmAppEmp to attend a union meeting and speak with workers directly. New Management continues to be cited over and over again with the National Labor Relations Board for violating the rights of workers, many of whom have been taken advantage of because they do not speak English, are illiterate, and do not have the resources that AmAppEmp might have. How do you explain what happened to Ana Amador? How do you explain the violation of the Warn Act? How do you explain the fact that many illiterate non English speaking workers were coerced into signing their rights away without a chance to seek legal counsel or even an explanation of the documents they were told to sign? Why send in paid union busting professionals?
5. AmAppEmp continues to make false statements. I was at La Mirada, and I never saw Dov waving around a dildo in a towel.
6. AmAppEmp’s statement “Maybe if Dov and his crew behaved themselves and played nice in the workplace, it would still be their bank accounts growing” rings untrue. It was the norm for senior management to be paid around 60-80K. We all took a paycut so that the factory workers could have a living wage.
This is in direct contrast to the new American Apparel. In a decade spent at headquarters, I have never seen so many luxury cars like Bentleys, Porches, Audis, etc. driven around by new management or the ones that soles their sole like Marty Bailey. Paula Schneider, Marty Bailey, Chelsea Grayson, Hasan Natha even had the nerve to award themselves huge bonuses on the day they violated the WARN act and illegally fired nearly 200 factory workers. They were not given any warning and were coerced to sign documents despite the fact that some are completely illiterate in Spanish and English.
AmAppEmp Mrs G S Mrs G S Standard General is a NY hedgefund with a history of gutting AMERICAN businesses, defrauding shareholders and longtime employees, while reaping enormous financial benefits.
Dov may have started AA in manufacturing 26 years ago, but the AA we know know in LA only started 15 years ago. The retail operation is about 11 years old. It is a very young business and last year was considered the largest private employer in Los Angeles. There’s 10,000 jobs worldwide at stake here.
Soo Kim, the founder of Standard General, manages funds for his clients and they certainly expect a return but I don’t think they realize that their pension funds are growing because Soo Kim is destroying American jobs and businesses. Soo Kim has a history of gutting and pillaging American businesses. He is a predator.
Mrs G S Mrs G S Standard General is a NY hedgefund with a history of gutting AMERICAN businesses, defrauding shareholders and longtime employees, while reaping enormous financial benefits.
Dov may have started AA in manufacturing 26 years ago, but the AA we know know in LA only started 15 years ago. The retail operation is about 11 years old. It is a very young business and last year was considered the largest private employer in Los Angeles. There’s 10,000 jobs worldwide at stake here.
Soo Kim, the founder of Standard General, manages funds for his clients and they expect a return to grow their funds, but do they realize and approve of the fact that he is destroying American business and jobs so that his customers can see their honey pots grow?
American Apparel represents the antithesis of Detroit. When everyone else is chasing cheaper labor overseas, shrinking the number of working class jobs in America, Dov in true Ayn Rand fashion, proved that truly “ethical” profits and business models that help the economy grow while treating people that are usually marginalized with respect is possible. That’s the American DREAM!
AryaStark Hey MacGyver, sweet theories, but way off base.
I wish I had the balls to let you know who I actually was, but I really don’t want to publicly get involved with this farce, it’s absolutely humiliating for everyone involved. Never have seen Catfish the movie, just the show on MTV, such a dumb show, but love the comparison.
Intro: I am in no way standing up for Cynthia Erland, from what I’ve read or witnessed so far, she is dumb and she sucks. Someone close to Dov who I admire very much was recently fired and she could have done Cynthia’s job a million times better without causing this much trouble for a company trying to rebuild itself.
Point 1: I never use the abbreviation AA because it makes me think of Alcoholics Anonymous. I abbreviated American Apparel Employee to AmAppEmp because it seemed like a good username. Also they totally say AmApp in countries in Europe and Asia. Have you ever heard anyone in the US say McDo? They sure do say it elsewhere.
Point 2: I made the effort to create a login and write these comments because no one is asking workers of our level what our opinions are. I guess @oymericanoypparel is right and I have no “right to anything”. I seriously can’t believe you guys think that anyone who has a bad word to say about Dov is hired by Standard General…
Point 3: What a bummer you think millenials educated or otherwise can no longer write using proper grammar. I’m in my twenties and read and write a lot. As for my tone, I guess I’m just a stiff person?
Point 4: I’m going to take you up on your invitation and look into this. Where can I attend this Union Meeting? Why am I never handed a flier when I walk out of the factory? Because I’m not Hispanic? What about my rights in the workplace? I could be fired any day now too.
Point 5: As for Dov dildo-gate, the dildo was on a bedside table beside his cot, he waved it around at passers by when he was laying down with the office door open. Him parading around in a towel after showering in the bathroom was a different situation entirely. You probably didn’t witness either.
I’m not even going to address your point number 6. Lol is all that comes to mind.
AmAppEmp AryaStark According to NLRB government regulations, only certain categories of employees can be unionized at a time. For instance, supervisors are not allowed to be union members, but they CAN support the union. The reason why you were never handed a flyer is because you are most likely not in the category that can be unionized under NLRB regulations.
We have invited anyone interested, including Paula Schneider, Soo Kim, and Colleen Brown to attend meetings to engage in an open discussion with workers, however they have declined every time. I cannot post the address here as it is a personal residence and there are safety concerns, but you are more than welcome to approach a union organizer and ask for the address and time.
The factory workers are comprised of many different ethnicities including Vietnamese, Korean, Egyptian, etc.
I was not insulting you for using proper grammar. I was referring to the subtleties of your use of language and the overall tone of your voice. I did not claim that you didn’t attend school; I actually don’t really care about that kind of stuff. I think it’s great that you’re an avid reader, so few people are nowadays.
Yes, it’s true that some French CUSTOMERS call MacDonalds, “McDos”, but they are customers not internal employees. In my point about the use of the term “AmApp” vs. “AA”, I was referring to common colloquial usage by internal employees, not customers.
I am only asking that you think critically about statements that you make before posting them on a public forum.
AryaStark it’s impossible to prove that a commentor is a shill. everything circumstantial points to it though.
frankly, i don’t even understand the guys point. even IF he is for real. OVERWHELMINGLY, AA employees were thrilled with the conditions, pay and benefits of working there. it’s just idiotic to paint yourself as one of the very few who had issues.
in short, the one thing everyone agrees with is about AA is that they were a model of how a company should treat labor. you coming up with your whiny comments about nonsensical complaints calling dov “evil” without backing it up rings pathetic and meaningless.
if you’re gonna spin, come up with something better.
question for you AmAppEmp: in which countries do they refer to the company as AmApp? any reference at all will do. my bed: you just made that up. whole cloth!