According to a statement by the board of directors of clothing company American Apparel on Wednesday, the group is ousting its Dov Charney as both chairman and chief executive officer. The unexpected statement also revealed that the board intended to replace the chairman position Charney will be leaving with two other directors, and will be looking for a suitable replacement to lead the company as CEO. The company's chief financial officer, John Luttrell, will reportedly serve the company as interim CEO.
The company board said that the decision had grown out of an ongoing investigation into Charney's alleged misconduct. The statement did not provide any details about the type of conduct Charney allegedly had committed.
One of the co-directors who will be replacing Charney as chairman, Allan Mayer, said in the statement, "We take no joy in this, but the Board felt it was the right thing to do. Dov Charney created American Apparel, but the Company has grown much larger than any one individual and we are confident that its greatest days are still ahead."
The statement noted that Charney's termination will be effective after 30 days.
The news was a surprise to Buzzfeed, which interviewed Charney. Charney said in the interview that he was still in the process of building the retailer despite management concerns that have haunted American Apparel in the past years. Moreover, Charney had bristled at the thought of having someone replacing him in the near future,
He said at that time, "I don't have people bursting in my house yet telling me to take a hike. Who else is in the founder-led companies that are big out there? Everybody's a 5 or a 6 or approaching a 7. I'm in my mid-forties so I'm building a team and I'm widening it, but I'm just cracking my knuckles and getting started. When I'm in my mid-fifties, I'm going to start looking at how to widen, you know, start passing on the torch completely. But right now, I'm just figuring where I want to drive the bus."
