Disgraced Hollywood film mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein is asking a bankruptcy judge in Delaware to allow him to pursue arbitration in New York over what he claims is his wrongful termination from the company he co-founded, the Associated Press reported. An attorney for Weinstein submitted a court filing last week asking the judge who is presiding over The Weinstein Co. bankruptcy to lift the automatic stay that halts outside legal proceedings involving chapter 11 debtors so he can pursue the arbitration case he filed in 2017. “Newly discovered information and facts, gleaned during the course of investigation and discovery in collateral matters, have yielded evidence that corroborates the wrongful termination claim that is subject of the arbitration,” Weinstein attorney Julia Klein wrote. Klein also said there has been no willful delay in seeking to lift the bankruptcy stay in order to proceed with the arbitration. According to Wednesday’s court filing, Weinstein in 2015 entered into an employment agreement with The Weinstein Co. that includes a provision requiring binding arbitration in New York for any dispute between the parties, including claims for discrimination and for violation of any federal, state or local law. The company fired Weinstein in October 2017 just days after The New York Times published a story detailing decades of sexual harassment allegations made against him by actresses and employees. Weinstein filed an arbitration demand two weeks later, asserting violations of the employment agreement and related state law claims.
