Chicago: Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc, the studio that popularised doing yoga in sauna heat, has filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy, dogged by $16.7 million in legal judgments and numerous lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct. Founder Bikram Choudhury, who built a worldwide following with classes of 26 yoga postures in rooms heated to 40.6 degrees Celsius, has been accused of sexual assault by his yoga practitioners, students, instructors and teacher trainees.
The Simi Valley, California-based company said in a bankruptcy court filing, that its liabilities were worth up to $50 million. It listed assets of up to $1million, suggesting that its largest creditors - women who are owed money for court judgments awarded against Choudhury - will not be paid in full.
They include Miki Jaffa Bodden, former head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury’s yoga school who has an $8 million claim stemming from a wrongful dismissal case that included sexual harassment claims. “Bikram Choudhury created a hyper-sexualized, offensive and degrading environment for women, among other things, demanding that female staffers brush his hair and give him massages,” Bodden said in her 2013 lawsuit.
She also accused him of pressuring her to cover up sexual harassment of women, and in a separate lawsuit filed this year, of fraudulently transferring assets such as luxury cars, including a Ferrari and a Bentley to avoid paying judgments against him. A warrant for Choudhury’s arrest was issued in May.
Restructuring experts have mentioned Chapter 11 bankruptcy as an option for the Weinstein Company to avoid mounting legal claims against its founder, Harvey Weinstein, over alleged sexual crimes.
