BOSSES at an “orgasmic meditation” startup ordered staff to have sex with each other to relieve tension between them, a trial has heard.
Witnesses have taken the stand at a New York City court to detail their experiences working at the “cult-like” OneTaste.
GettyRachel Cherwitz, former head of sales for OneTaste, centre, and attorney Jenny Kramer, right, depart federal court in Brooklyn[/caption]
NetflixNicole Daedone, founder and former chief executive officer of OneTaste[/caption]
GettyThe founder of sexual wellness education startup OneTaste pleaded not guilty to charges[/caption]
Nicole Daedone, 57, the company’s founder, and Rachel Cherwitz, 44, former head of sales, are accused of a forced labor scheme alleged to have involved participants in OneTaste courses and employees between 2006 and 2018.
They offered sexually focused wellness education that promoted “orgasmic meditation” and advocated female empowerment through orgasm.
The defendants deny the charges.
Prosecutors claim they coerced people to work without pay and perform sexual acts with OneTaste investors.
A former sales employee, referred to only as Max, told the court that Cherwitz attributed a profit drop at the New York City branch to sexual tension between employees.
Cherwitz told staff members to have sex during a sales meeting, Max testified.
“I want you guys to go have sex right now,” she told them, Max testified.
Max told the court: “I felt so sick inside. I think that was the moment when I just woke up.”
The court also heard that employees, many of whom lived together and shared beds, would allegedly be expected to join daily “orgasmic meditation circles”.
This partnered ritual would involve “methodically stroking a woman’s genitals for 15 minutes”, according to testimony.
Max further testified that employees would be expected to be on call 24 hours a day and were not allowed sick or vacation days.
Taking the stand on Tuesday, Dana told the court she was instructed to engage in BDSM with an early OneTaste investor.
The witness further testified that her superiors, including Cherwitz, had instructed her to engage in sexual acts with clients of the company.
Defense lawyer Julia Gatto said outside court: “The idea that this woman, at this company, engaged in forced labor is as far from the truth and reality as one could comprehend.
She further called Daedone “a ceiling-shattering feminist entrepreneur”.
But prosecutors say Daedone and Cherwitz schemed to draw in people suffering from sexual trauma and make them into unquestioning followers, AP has reported.
Company members might be told “to engage in sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive as a requirement to obtain ‘freedom’ and ‘enlightenment’ and demonstrate their commitment to OneTaste and Daedone,” the indictment claims.
OneTaste reportedly started in San Francisco around 2005.
Its alleged practices came under scrutiny in a 2018 Bloomberg Businessweek investigation and later in Netflix’s Orgasm Inc.
The trial is expected to last until mid-June, according to Courthouse News Service.
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