Weinstein Co. fires chief operating officer David Glasser

The board of the Weinstein Company has dismissed the beleaguered film studio's president and chief operating officer, less than a week after he was cited for failing to act on employee harassment complaints.

In a statement, the studio said its board "has unanimously voted to terminate David Glasser for cause." A spokeswoman for the Weinstein Company was unavailable for immediate comment. Glasser could not immediately be reached for comment.

On Sunday, New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the Weinstein Company and Harvey Weinstein alleging years of sexual misconduct by the movie producer. The civil suit also accused executives of repeatedly failing to protect employees from Weinstein.

Weinstein, 65, was one of Hollywood's most influential men before more than 70 women accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape. He has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone and Reuters has not been able to independently confirm the allegations.

Schneiderman also said that Glasser, who supervised the company's human resources department and was in charge of handling dozens of complaints against Weinstein, should not benefit from any sale of the studio. Schneiderman said Glasser at the time was in line to be chief executive.

The studio was in talks to sell itself to a group of investors led by former Obama administration official Maria Contreras-Sweet, but Schneiderman's lawsuit put the deal negotiations on hold, said people familiar with the matter.

Responding to Schneiderman's lawsuit on Feb. 11, Weinstein's lawyer Ben Brafman said a fair investigation would prove that many of the allegations against his client were without merit.