Hot yoga guru who owes millions of dollars to former employees files for bankruptcy

Hot Yoga Guru Bikram Choudhary has filed for bankruptcy in US. Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in legal judgements and lawsuits after being accused of sexual misconduct.

Close-up of Indian Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury as he instructs his yoga class in heated room, Beverly Hills, California, February 2, 2000. Source: Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images

Bikram Choudhary, famous for his 26 yoga postures in heated up rooms, has been accused of sexual assault practitioners, students and employees. He founded Hot Yoga and popularized it around the world.

California-based company The Simi Valley told the district court in a bankruptcy filing last week that its liabilities were worth up to $US50 mn while assets are upto $US 1 mn. The company suggested that its creditors will not be paid in full. Its largest creditors are women who are owed money for court judgements.

Source: Flickr/rufai ajala (C.C. BY 2.0)

One of these creditors is Sharon Clerkin. Clerkin sued Choudhary claiming she was fired for becoming pregnant. She is owed $3.6 million.

Another creditor Miki Jaffa Bodden has an $US8 million claim. She said in her lawsuit, “Birkram Choudhury created a hyper-sexualised, offensive and degrading environment for women by, among other things, demanding that female staffers brush his hair and give him massages.”