Laurence "Larry" Kirshbaum, a New York publisher hired by Amazon US to drive its ambitious book-publishing growth plans, has been accused of sexual assault in papers filed with New York's Supreme Court.
The allegations were described as "baseless" by Kirshbaum's lawyer, Catherine Redlich.
A well-known figure in New York literary circles, having been chief executive of publisher Time Warner Book Group (TWBG) until 2005, Kirshbaum has brought authors such as James Franco, star of US cult TV show Freaks and Geeks, and legendary basketball coach Bob Knight, to Amazon. The papers filed by lawyers for Teresa McCoy, an editor and project producer with whom Kirshbaum had a personal and business relationship during his time at TWBG, contain lurid details of alleged sexual assaults on two separate occasions in 2010.
In a New York restaurant on 9 August 2010, the papers say, "While plaintiff [McCoy] was standing looking at different salad choices, she asked Kirshbaum what he was going to get. Instead of replying, the much physically larger Kirshbaum suddenly swooped down, grabbed her and forcibly stuck his tongue in her mouth, causing plaintiff's neck to jerk back in excruciating pain." A second assault allegedly followed on 4 October 2010.
The pair reconnected in June 2010 partly on the premise of Kirshbaum supporting McCoy's application for a job, for coffee meetings interspersed with his "flirty emails", she alleged.
A statement from Redlich said: "This lawsuit is about a consensual relationship from a decade ago which turned sour when McCoy began threatening Mr Kirshbaum and his family with public embarrassment and demanding money on pain of public disclosure. In the past two years, McCoy has renewed her threats. She has hired at least seven lawyers to try to extract a financial settlement, six of whom she allegedly fired and one of whom she reportedly threatened to kill.
"We believe the evidence will establish clearly that McCoy's allegations of employment discrimination and assault are baseless, and have complete confidence that the falsity of her allegations will be proved at trial."
Kirshbaum was hired by Amazon in May 2011 to run its New York publishing office, building up a general trade publisher by founding new imprints and acquiring high-quality books in literary and commercial fiction, business and general non-fiction.
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