Indian American Former Assistant of Harvey Weinstein Accuses Him of Sexual Harassment

An Indian American woman who was the former personal assistant of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has filed a lawsuit against him for the emotional distress she faced in the “pervasive and severe sexually hostile work environment at the Weinstein Company LLC.”

Sandeep Rehal, 26, claimed that she had to wipe Weinstein’s couch after his frequent sexual encounters and also prepare beforehand for the same.

She was “required to be involved in and aware of the preparation for, and clean up after, Harvey Weinstein’s extremely prolific sexual encounters,” according to her Manhattan federal court suit. “Another ‘task’ Ms. Rehal was forced to do to aid Harvey Weinstein’s sexual encounters was to clean up the semen on the couch in Harvey Weinstein’s office… on a regular basis.”

Rehal also maintained the stock of Caverject shots for his erectile dysfunction, it added. “She had to obtain the shots and keep them stocked in a ​cabinet behind her desk at Harvey Weinstein’s TWC office,” the suit says. “Every time Harvey Weinstein went to meet a woman at a hotel, in the office, or elsewhere, which occurred on average at least three times a week when he was in New York, Ms. Rehal was required as part of her job to provide [him] with a shot, which she placed in his jacket pocket or in a brown paper bag.”

Apart from the “tasks” she had to perform for him, she was also allegedly sexually harassed by Weinstein. He allegedly rubbed his stomach against her, groped her thighs and buttocks, and demanded that she “take dictation of his emails while he was naked.” When she started wearing pants instead of skirts to minimize his comments, she accuses him of saying, “You used to dress so cute and now what’s going on?”

He also allegedly demeaned her by calling her a “c—t” and a “p—y” in front of other staff members. On many occasions, he said, “What’s wrong Sandeep, is the tampon up too far today?”

Rehal claimed in the lawsuit that because of the hostile work environment, she has suffered, and “continues to suffer from severe emotional distress, anxiety, depression, humiliation, fear, anguish and loss of self-esteem.”

She has sued The Weinstein Company LLC (TWC) for an unnamed amount.

Weinstein has previously been accused of sexual harassment by multiple actresses in Hollywood, which eventually led to the #Metoo movement towards ending workplace harassment of women.