LOS ANGELES – Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis has fired back at a former employee who filed a sexual harrassment suit against him this summer.
Tranae Hammond was fired from Francis' company Mantra Films in July 2006, and is now suing for wrongful termination, sexual
harassment and sexual battery. Hammond claims that Francis sexually
harassed her while she was working for him at the production company’s
call center in Los Angeles.
According to Francis' website
www.meetjoefrancis.com, Francis never met Hammond. Francis calls the lawsuit "frivolous," noting that Hammond didn't take action against him until a year after she was fired. Francis points out that Hammond's suit followed in the wake of other high-profile legal actions against the T&A mogul.
“I take these outrageous allegations of sexual harassment very seriously,” Francis wrote. “Mantra Films employs over a hundred women, and I've never had a claim of sexual harassment in the history of the company. This is just another example of someone trying to make money off me with false accusations. I have never even met this woman. I am tired of these lies being used against me in an attempt to extort money from me and destroy my name. As I have said previously, I will sue any individual or lawyer who brings baseless allegations against me.”
Francis
is currently being held in a Washoe County Jail awaiting charges of tax
evasion. Video evidence posted on the site recently led two Florida
women to drop a federal lawsuit against Francis and his company.
