Dive Brief:

• American Apparel Inc.’s board of directors Wednesday voted to fire the retailer’s founder and CEO, Dov Charney.

• Citing an "ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct,” the board said it will fire Charney after the required 30 days called for in his contract. The company is loaded with debt and has been struggling recently.

• Los Angeles-based American Apparel has struggled to survive at many points over the years and is in the midst of restructuring. In May the company reported a Q1 net loss of $5.5 million, a drop from last year’s $46.5 million loss. Q1 same-store sales decreased 7%.

Dive Insight:

Dov Charney founded American Apparel in 1998 and has made news with his insistence that the company’s goods be made in the U.S. for better wages, and with his advocacy for immigration reform and other liberal causes. But he has also been accused of sexual harassment several times, is known to visit his factory in his underwear (and worse), and has been criticized for the company’s highly sexual and even offensive advertisements.