Bikram yoga founder fined US$924,000 in sexual harassment suit

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Bikram yoga founder fined US$924,000 in sexual harassment suit

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 26 January, 2016, 4:23pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 26 January, 2016, 4:23pm

Reuters in Los Angeles

Bikram Choudhury founder of the Yoga College of India. Photo: AP

The founder of the Bikram yoga practice was ordered to pay US$924,500 on Monday to a former legal adviser who said she was fired for investigating sexual misconduct charges against her employer, media reported.

Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, the former personal attorney of celebrity yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, was awarded compensatory damages by a Los Angeles jury for claims of discrimination, retaliation and of suffering sexual harassment herself, The Los Angeles Times reported.

During the trial, Choudhury had dismissed the accusations and said Jafa-Bodden was let go because she did not have a license to practice law in the United States, the Times and other media reported.

Choudhury published a book in 1979 with descriptions, photographs and drawings of his signature 26 postures and two breathing exercises yoga sequence, which is practised in a room heated to 41 degrees Celsius.