Almost a year ago, many of us stood in shock as the CEO of FriendFinder Networks, formerly Penthouse Media Group, saw no conflict whatsoever in the fact the same company that published a porn mag and ran various adult-themed websites also owned and operated BigChurch.com, a Christian dating site. “It’s just business,” he told us.
Natalie Cedeno
Well, CEO Marc Bell is in the news again after FriendFinder’s former human resources head filed a lawsuit against the company for violation of labor laws. Natalie Cedeno was retained as HR director after PMG (which rebranded as social networking company FriendFinder Networks) bought Various, Inc., which owned the massive and heavily advertised Adult FriendFinder and several other variations on the FriendFinder theme, including the aforementioned BigChurch.com, for $500 million.
Valleywag’s Owen Thomas paints Silicon Valley-based Various as a conservative, all-business type company despite its ownership of many porn sites, complete with strict dress codes and banishment of racy screensavers. But, according to the lawsuit, when Bell and Penthouse—erm, FriendFinder Networks—took over, things changed.
Namely: When a female employee protested against a Penthouse Pet ice cream party, the nearly nude pets went into her office and put their boobs on her head (she quit later); when Cedeno complained about lap dances being charged to the company, executives laughed and noted Bell had just done the same for some investment bankers; Bell reportedly told Cedeno the women in the office were too ugly and she should do something about it to keep the male workers happy.
There are some other allegations, but those are the fun ones.
