Bikram yoga founder ordered to pay $7.4m for sex harassment of his lawyer

A man who made an empire out of his high-heat brand of yoga has been ordered to pay well over $7 million to a former legal adviser who said he sexually harassed her. A Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram yoga founder Bikram Choudhury to pay $6.5 million in punitive damages on top of $924,000 in compensatory he was ordered to pay in the same case a day earlier. The woman, Minakshi “Miki” Jafa-Bodden, had said Choudhury sexually harassed her and wrongfully fired her for investigating another woman’s rape allegation.

These are all very brave women who’ve had the courage to stand up against very serious opposition and public scrutiny.

Mary Shea, one of the attorneys representing other women suing Choudhury for assault

Jafa-Bodden worked as head of legal and international affairs at Choudhury’s Los Angeles yoga school from spring 2011 until March 2013, when she said she was abruptly fired from her six-figure position for refusing to cover up an investigation into a rape allegation. "Jafa-Bodden faced retaliation and intimidation when she refused to stay silent about witnessing illegal behaviour,“ her attorney, Mark Quigley, said in a statement. Additionally, Jafa-Bodden said Choudhury sexually harassed and inappropriately touched her, and tried to get her to stay with him in a hotel suite. Choudhury, 69, has built an empire around Bikram yoga, a rigorous, 90-minute routine performed in a room that can reach more than 100 degrees.

Bikram