Ambra Battilana Gutierrez + Sara Ziff on Weinstein's First Court Appearance

NEW (05/01/2024) (readMedia)-- Today, Harvey Weinstein is scheduled to appear in court for the first time since the New York Court of Appeals court overturned his conviction. In response, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez and Sara Ziff issued the following statement:

"Harvey Weinstein and his associates have caused irrevocable harm to us and countless others, stunting careers and silencing stories. We want all survivors to be able to pursue justice and we need to protect future generations from the abuse we suffered. The Model Alliance fought hard for the Adult Survivors Act (ASA) because the criminal system so often fails survivors like us, and it's why we support making the ASA lookback window permanent. The fashion industry also needs basic labor protections, like establishing a zero-tolerance policy for abuse and creating a safe channel to file grievances without risking retaliation. Lawmakers need to pass the Fashion Workers Act this session and show survivors of sexual abuse they care about fixing the system that enabled Weinstein and his friends."

The Model Alliance, the leading organization advancing labor rights in the fashion industry, was integral in the passage of New York's Adult Survivors Act, and supports making the Adult Survivors Act lookback window permanent, to eliminate the civil statutes of limitations for survivors of sexual abuse and ensure that justice is accessible to all survivors. In order to prevent abuse from happening in the first place, the Model Alliance is advocating for the Fashion Workers Act, to equip models with labor protections and establish a zero-tolerance policy for abuse within the fashion industry.

Background on the Fashion Workers Act:

Modeling agencies are considered to be management companies under New York State General Business Law §171(8), known as the "incidental booking exception," allowing them to escape licensing and regulation. In almost every case, management companies are granted blanket "power of attorney" as part of their agreement to represent models, giving management companies power to accept payments on behalf of the model, deposit checks and deduct expenses, as well as book jobs, negotiate the model's rate of pay, and give third parties permission to use the model's image, while having no obligation to act in their talents' best interests.

This leaves models unprotected outside the terms of their individual contracts – which tend to be exploitative and one-sided in favor of the management company – and creates a lack of transparency and accountability when it comes to basic issues like health and safety and having insight into one's own finances. For example, models often don't know whether and how much they'll be paid for jobs booked through management companies, which deduct various unexplained fees from their earnings, in addition to a 20 percent commission from the model and a 20 percent service fee from the client. Models are held to multi-year, auto-renewing contracts without any guarantee of actually being booked paid work, which ensnares them in cycles of debt and makes models highly vulnerable to other forms of abuse, including sexual abuse and human trafficking. When models experience abuse, they do not have a safe channel to file work-related grievances without a risk of retaliation.

The Fashion Workers Act would address these issues by closing the legal loophole by which management companies escape accountability and create basic protections for the models who are the faces of New York's fashion industry.

The Fashion Workers Act would require management companies to:

• Establish a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their talent
• Provide models with copies of contracts and agreements
• Notify formerly represented models if they collect royalties on their behalf
• Register and deposit a surety bond of $50,000 with the NYS Department of State
• Obtain clear, written consent for the use of a model's digital replica
• Protect the health and safety of models, including by establishing a zero-tolerance policy for abuse

And discontinue bad practices such as:

• Presenting power of attorney as a necessary condition for entering into a contract with the management company
• Collecting signing fees or deposits from models
• Charging models interest on payment of their earnings
• Charging more than the daily fair market rate for accommodation
• Deducting any other fee or expense than the agreed upon commission
• Renewing the contract without the model's affirmative consent
• Imposing a commission fee greater than twenty percent of the model's compensation
• Taking retaliatory action against a model for filing a complaint
• Engaging in discrimination or harassment of any kind against a model on the basis of race, ethnicity, and other legally permissible categories under Section 296(a) of the Executive Law.

About the Model Alliance

Founded in 2012, the Model Alliance has been at the forefront of advancing labor rights in the fashion industry for the last decade. Through strategic research, policy initiatives, and campaigns, the Model Alliance aims to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor. The Model Alliance has championed multiple pieces of legislation, including the Child Model Act and the Adult Survivors Act in New York and the Talent Protections Act in California. The organization also runs the world's only industry-specific support line, MA Support. In 2021, the organization received the first Positive Social Influence Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America at the CFDA Awards.