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Bikram yoga founder ordered to pay $924,500 in sexual harassment trial | Bikram yoga founder ordered to pay $924,500 in sexual harassment trial |
(35 minutes later) | |
The founder of a popular hot yoga method was ordered to pay more than $900,000 to a lawyer who said she was fired for investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the guru. | The founder of a popular hot yoga method was ordered to pay more than $900,000 to a lawyer who said she was fired for investigating allegations of sexual harassment against the guru. |
A Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram Choudhury on Monday to pay the attorney $924,500 in compensatory damages after finding he had subjected her to harassment and retaliation. The jury is considering whether to award the attorney, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, with punitive damages on Tuesday. | A Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram Choudhury on Monday to pay the attorney $924,500 in compensatory damages after finding he had subjected her to harassment and retaliation. The jury is considering whether to award the attorney, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, with punitive damages on Tuesday. |
“It’s an enormous vindication,” said Jafa-Bodden’s attorney, Carla Minnard. | |
She said Choudhury sexually harassed Jafa-Bodden, inappropriately touched her, and tried to get her to stay with him in a hotel suite. Choudhury fired her in June 2013 when she began investigating claims from other women of sexual abuse, Minnard said. | |
Choudhury’s attorney, Robert Tafoya, did not return a call for comment.Choudhury, 69, has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100F (38C). The technique is taught at more than 650 studios worldwide and has drawn a throng of devoted followers. | Choudhury’s attorney, Robert Tafoya, did not return a call for comment.Choudhury, 69, has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100F (38C). The technique is taught at more than 650 studios worldwide and has drawn a throng of devoted followers. |
Monday’s verdict is just the latest bad news for Choudhury. In October, the guru lost a court appeal to copyright his sequence of 26 poses and two breathing exercises. The ninth US circuit court of appeals ruled that the sequence used in hot yoga classes is a process intended to improve people’s health, so copyright law does not cover it. | Monday’s verdict is just the latest bad news for Choudhury. In October, the guru lost a court appeal to copyright his sequence of 26 poses and two breathing exercises. The ninth US circuit court of appeals ruled that the sequence used in hot yoga classes is a process intended to improve people’s health, so copyright law does not cover it. |
Choudhury is facing lawsuits by six women who claim he sexually assaulted them, the first of which is set for trial in April. | |
The most recent lawsuit, filed 13 February, accuses Choudhury of raping a Canadian woman who had used $10,000 from her college fund to pay for a nine-week class so she could teach Bikram yoga to others. | |
Choudhury’s lawyers have said he never sexually assaulted any of the women suing him and that prosecutors had declined to bring charges in their cases. | Choudhury’s lawyers have said he never sexually assaulted any of the women suing him and that prosecutors had declined to bring charges in their cases. |
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