Choudhury leads a gigantic yoga class at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sept. 27, 2003.
Photo: AP
[From article]
A man who made an empire out of his high-heat brand of yoga has been ordered to pay well over $7 million to a former legal adviser who said he sexually harassed her.
A Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram yoga founder Bikram Choudhury to pay $6.5 million in punitive damages Tuesday on top of $924,000 in compensatory damages he was ordered to pay in the same case a day earlier.
The woman, Minakshi “Miki” Jafa-Bodden, had said Choudhury sexually harassed her and wrongfully fired her for investigating another woman’s rape allegation.
[. . .]
Jafa-Bodden worked as head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury’s Los Angeles yoga school from spring 2011 until March 2013, when she said she was abruptly fired from her six-figure position for refusing to cover up an investigation into a rape allegation.
“Jafa-Bodden faced retaliation and intimidation when she refused to stay silent about witnessing illegal behavior,” her attorney, Mark Quigley, said in a statement.
Additionally, Jafa-Bodden said Choudhury sexually harassed and inappropriately touched her, and tried to get her to stay with him in a hotel suite.
Choudhury, 69, has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100 degrees. The technique is taught at more than 650 studios worldwide and has drawn a throng of devoted followers.
[. . .]
Jafa-Bodden’s wrongful termination lawsuit is separate from sexual assault lawsuits filed by six other women, five of whom accuse Choudhury of raping them. One of those lawsuits is in the process of being settled while the rest are set for trial later this year.
His attorneys have said he never sexually assaulted any of the women suing him and that prosecutors had declined to bring charges in their cases.
Mary Shea, one of the attorneys representing the women filing the assault lawsuits, said prosecutors never investigated the allegations and that just because charges weren’t filed doesn’t mean the women aren’t telling the truth.
“These are all very brave women who’ve had the courage to stand up against very serious opposition and public scrutiny,” she said. “If anything, this (verdict) has given them the confidence to go forward and speak their truth.”
http://nypost.com/2016/01/27/bikram-yoga-founder-ordered-to-pay-7-4m-for-sex-harassment/
Bikram yoga founder ordered to pay $7.4M for sex harassment
By Associated Press
New York Post
January 27, 2016 | 9:04am
[From article]
A man who made an empire out of his high-heat brand of yoga has been ordered to pay well over $7 million to a former legal adviser who said he sexually harassed her.
A Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram yoga founder Bikram Choudhury to pay $6.5 million in punitive damages Tuesday on top of $924,000 in compensatory damages he was ordered to pay in the same case a day earlier.
The woman, Minakshi “Miki” Jafa-Bodden, had said Choudhury sexually harassed her and wrongfully fired her for investigating another woman’s rape allegation.
[. . .]
Jafa-Bodden worked as head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury’s Los Angeles yoga school from spring 2011 until March 2013, when she said she was abruptly fired from her six-figure position for refusing to cover up an investigation into a rape allegation.
“Jafa-Bodden faced retaliation and intimidation when she refused to stay silent about witnessing illegal behavior,” her attorney, Mark Quigley, said in a statement.
Additionally, Jafa-Bodden said Choudhury sexually harassed and inappropriately touched her, and tried to get her to stay with him in a hotel suite.
Choudhury, 69, has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100 degrees. The technique is taught at more than 650 studios worldwide and has drawn a throng of devoted followers.
[. . .]
Jafa-Bodden’s wrongful termination lawsuit is separate from sexual assault lawsuits filed by six other women, five of whom accuse Choudhury of raping them. One of those lawsuits is in the process of being settled while the rest are set for trial later this year.
His attorneys have said he never sexually assaulted any of the women suing him and that prosecutors had declined to bring charges in their cases.
Mary Shea, one of the attorneys representing the women filing the assault lawsuits, said prosecutors never investigated the allegations and that just because charges weren’t filed doesn’t mean the women aren’t telling the truth.
“These are all very brave women who’ve had the courage to stand up against very serious opposition and public scrutiny,” she said. “If anything, this (verdict) has given them the confidence to go forward and speak their truth.”
http://nypost.com/2016/01/27/bikram-yoga-founder-ordered-to-pay-7-4m-for-sex-harassment/
Bikram yoga founder ordered to pay $7.4M for sex harassment
By Associated Press
New York Post
January 27, 2016 | 9:04am
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