December 3, 2013
The female co-CEO of Archie Comics is accused of harassing her employees by yelling “penis” at them. But it’s OK. Why? Because they are “white men.”
The female co-CEO of Archie Comics is accused of harassing her employees by yelling “penis” at them. But it’s OK. Why? Because they are “white men.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim that Nancy Silberkleit harassed her employees and used “gender as a weapon,” calling them by their genitalia. She even allegedly shouted it out at business meetings.
Nancy Silberkleit, Archie Comics co-CE
Silberkleit didn’t deny that she said it. But she filed court documents that state: ’Plaintiffs fail to allege that any such comments were directed at any of the plaintiffs in particular, or they could cause extreme emotional distress even if they had been,” according to the New York Daily News.
“[T]he word ‘penis’ became somewhat of a campaign slogan and her preferred method of referring to employees in lieu of their names,” the claim against her reads.
Silberkleit has been locked in a long-running legal battle for control of the famous comics company. Employees believe she is mentally unstable and running the company into the ground.
Among the legal allegations include claims by Silberkleit that her liason Sam Levitin, 73, turned against her for rejecting his ‘unwanted and improper sexual advances’. But Mr. Levitin claims that Mrs. Silberkleit is ‘unstable’ and ‘will greatly damage the business’ if she remains in a position of power. Mr. Levitin said that Silberkleit schemed to make the female characters Betty and Veronica more provocative.
The feud began last year when Levitin was made Silberkleit’s liason to act as a ‘go between’ in a court battle with the company’s other CEO Jon Goldwater, who wants her fired.
Levitin said that Silberkleit would explode into tantrums, surge into meetings and scream about male genitalia before leaving. Their relationship broke down last Winter when Levitin reportedly turned on her for rejecting his sexual advances. Silberkleit claims that Levitin warned her: ‘Mess with me, lady, (and) you’re playing with fire’.
Levitin admitted to saying that she was ‘playing with fire,’ when she was trying to make Betty and Veronica more outrageous, but that he did not call Silberkleit a ‘lady.’
“Nancy is incapable of working with anyone,” Mr Levitin said. ‘She lacks functional communication skills and has an unstable temperament.’
Nancy Silberkleit’s lawyer says a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by employees should be tossed partially because white men aren’t members of “a protected class.”
Silberkleit took over as co-CEO of the comic book company that is home to Archie, Jughead, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch – after her husband died in 2008.
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