Benjamin Wey, CEO of New York Global Group, was charged with harassing and stalking an employee after she stopped sleeping with him, and is now the defendant in an $850 million lawsuit.
The New York Daily News reported that Wey hired Hannah Bouveng, the Swedish model who is plaintiff of the suit, in 2013 as the under-qualified chief of marketing. According to Bouveng, Wey’s intentions were for more than just business.
While Glenn Colton, Wey’s attorney, maintains that the executive was only trying to give Bouveng opportunities in the business world. Bouveng insists that Wey used business as a means by which he could pursue her sexually. She cites the fact that he paid for her $3600-a-month Tribeca apartment as evidence for this secret intention.
“Sure, Ben Wey made some mistakes in the way he dealt with Ms. Bouveng,” Colton said. “But he cared.”
In December 2013, Wey took Bouveng out to dinner, gifted her a $2000 Prada bag, showered her in drinks, and the two had sex at her Tribeca apartment, an experience which, according to Bouveng, lasted two minutes.
Shortly thereafter, Wey discovered that Bouveng was seeing somebody else, and, out of anger at her “cheating” on him, fired her, citing that her love for nightclubs was infringing on her work.
“She was debased. She was disgraced,” said David Ratner, Bouveng’s attorney.
After firing Bouveng, Wey began to harass her on social media, calling her a “prostitute” and “Swedish party girl.” Although admitting that his client’s messages, emails, and articles from Wey’s personal blog were ugly, Colton said that they did not constitute harassment.