Legal News

CEO of Steiff, Maker of Teddy Bears, Accused of Rape

By Ashby Jones

Apparently Steiff teddy bears are sort of a big deal. We learned this back in February, when the SEC filed suit against the principals of a trading firm, accusing them of using client funds as "their personal piggy-bank to furnish lavish and luxurious lifestyles, which include the purchase of multi-million dollar homes, a horse farm, cars, horses, and rare collectibles such as Steiff teddy bears." Sure enough, retail on some of the Steiff creations, like this giraffe on wheels (giraffe on wheels?), can run upwards of $500.

In any event, the Raynam, Mass., company that makes these pricey little critters is in the news today for reasons unrelated to its products. A former executive assistant to the company’s CEO, Martin Frechen (pictured), has filed an $80 million lawsuit claiming Frechen raped her in 2004 and continued to sexually harass her at meetings and conferences after the alleged incident. Click here for the WSJ story; here for the Boston Globe story; here for the complaint, filed in New York state court. The plaintiff, Jane Collins, 32, is asking for $80 million in damages.

Michael Rosen, an attorney for Frechen, said the executive “believes the plaintiff’s claims are entirely without merit. He intends to vigorously defend himself against these allegations, and he believes he’ll ultimately prevail.”

Margarete Steiff and another named defendant, James Pitocco, “resolutely deny the allegations in Ms. Collins’s complaint and will vigorously defend the claims made by her in court,” added David Rosenthal, an attorney for Steiff.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Collins, a 32-year-old mother of two, said she didn’t go to the police about the alleged rape “because I was afraid I would lose my job if I did.” She said she has continued to work at Steiff because she needs the job, and because it pays better than similar positions elsewhere.

The complaint alleges that in 2004, Collins, who was then working as Frechen’s executive assistant, was asked to make payment arrangements for storing Frechen’s wife’s car at a Massachusetts facility. Frechen and Collins took the automobile to the facility where, according to the complaint, Frechen drove the vehicle into the storage unit “allegedly in order to test if the car would fit.” Once inside, he closed the storage-unit door and forced her to have intercourse with him in the front passenger seat, the complaint alleges.

In the interview, Ms. Collins claimed that she wasn’t able to escape. “He’s six four and very strong, and I’m five seven,” she said. The complaint alleges that during the assault, Ms. Collins repeatedly told Mr. Frechen to stop and he responded by saying that this would be their “last time together,” and that “it is OK.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 09, 2009 (boomark / email).