Guess co-founder Paul Marciano has stepped away from day-to-day duties with the company as it continues to investigate misconduct accusations against him.
In a press release Tuesday, Guess said, “The Board of Directors and Mr. Marciano have agreed that Mr. Marciano will relinquish his day to day responsibilities at the Company, on an unpaid basis, pending the completion of the investigation.”
The investigation is being conducted by the law firm O’Melveny & Myers. A special committee formed by the Guess board of directors is being represented by the law firm of Glaser Weil, LLP.
Marciano said that he has “pledged my full cooperation to the Company, and I have the utmost confidence in our CEO, Victor Herrero, to continue leading the Company during this time.”
Guess added that it “takes very seriously any allegations of sexual misconduct, is committed to maintaining a safe work environment, and looks forward to the completion of a thorough investigation of all the facts.”
Earlier this month, model and actress Kate Upton said that Marciano “forcibly grabbed by breasts” during a long campaign of harassment.
Upton told Time that after the first day of shooting her Guess Lingerie campaign in July 2010, Marciano “said he wanted to meet with me. As soon as I walked in with photographer Yu Tsai, Paul came straight up to me, forcibly grabbed my breasts and started feeling them — playing with them actually. After I pushed him away, he said,’I’m making sure they’re real.’”
Marciano called the accusations “absolutely false” and “preposterous.”