Miki Agrawal (38) recently stepped down as the CEO of Thinx, a company that sells “period panties”, after she was accused of sexual harassment by the company’s former head of PR, Chelsea Leibow (26). Here is what we know about the accusations:
1. Agrawal would grab the breasts of her female employees.
2. Agrawal would walk around the office naked.
3. Agrawal would video chat her employees while she was on the toilet or naked in bed.
4. Agrawal forced Leibow to show her, her nipple piercing.
5. During a video shoot at Agrawal’s house, Agrawal informed the crew that they would have to wait. The reason? Apparently, Agrawal and her partner had just had sex (they were trying to conceive a child), therefore, she had to keep her legs in the air.
6. Agrawal often talked with her employees about wanting to try polyamory.
7. When Leibow complained to her supervisors about Agrawal’s behavior she was fired.
8. Agrawal spoke frankly about the size of her employees’ breasts.
9. The only two employees who were given a pay raise were male.
10. Agrawal often told flirted with her employees, telling them they were “hot”.
11. The company failed to implement a proper HR to deal with complaints.
12. In addition, current and former employees are now coming forth with other grievances including low pay, insufficient maternity leave, and inappropriate workplace rhetoric.
Coincidentally, once the accusations became public, Agrawal stepped down from her role as CEO to focus on the “branding of Thinx”. She was scheduled to speak about “Navigating Sexuality at Work” at the upcoming New Orleans Entrepreneur Week’s Women’s Summit, but was removed from the lineup. Though the Human Rights Commission has an agency investigating the complaint, Agrawal denies the accusations. She has come forward saying that her comments and actions were taken out of context.
On her website, Agrawal has the following blurb about herself, “I’m a social entrepreneur who loves to face taboos head on. I am a proud feminist trying to eliminate shame from the period conversation and to remind mothers of their super powers even when their bladder control begins to weaken. I wish for every human being to defecate with dignity. I love food, and want the world to eat animals only when they are humanely treated.”
Agrawal is not really denying the actions. So is it possible such things could be “taken out of context”?