By Margaret Kelly, ESQ
Bikram Choudhury founded his hugely successful brand of yoga, Bikram Yoga, in 1994. Since then, the hot yoga program has gained strong cult followings in cities worldwide and Choudhury declared himself, early on, the “Yogi to the stars.” Prominent devotees include George Clooney, Lady Gaga and Jeff Bridges. Boiled down to the essentials, Bikram yoga involves performing a set series of 26 yoga positions, coupled with breathing exercises, led by a “teacher” in a studio heated to a balmy 105 degrees (intended to simulate Choudhury’s native Indian climate). For years, this star-studded brand of yoga has been saluted as healing for both body and soul, and its founder, Choudhury, has been hailed as a spiritual guiding light. Accolytes reportedly drop to their knees, routinely, to bow in his presence, out of reverence. But for Choudhury, there’s trouble in paradise.
At least seven of his followers have accused him of attempting to literally force “enlightenment” on them via sexual assault, and one of them just won over a jury to the tune of $6.4 million. That case was filed by Choudhury’s one time legal advisor, Minakshi Jafa-Bodden. Jafa-Bodden alleged that Choudhury sexually harassed her while she worked for him, and that she was wrongfully fired after opening an internal investigation into claims that the guru had raped another one of his students.
Jaffa-Boden did not mince words in her complaint, first filed back in 2013. She accused Choudhury of engendering and promoting a work environment shot through with misogyny, homophobia, racism and sexual misconduct. What’s more, the lawsuit alleges that Jaffa-Bodden was forced to resign by Choudry, personally, under some threat of physical violence, after the guru learned of Jaffa-Bodden’s ongoing investigation into other sexual misconduct claims against Choudhury. Jaffa-Boden characterized the man who was once her guru as “openly hateful” and “dangerous.” Six other women have brought sexual harassment and assault lawsuits against Choudhury over the past several years.
In the face of all of the allegations against him, and even in the wake of the millions he now owes one of his accusers, Choudhury has consistently denied any wrongdoing. And Los Angeles County prosecutors have so far declined to prosecute for lack of sufficient evidence. Choudhury insists, instead, that he is the real victim, with years of legal fees and reputational damage leaving him close to bankrupt. Under cross-examination, the guru fessed up to owning dozens of luxury cars, including Bentleys and Ferraris, but he explained he had given all of the vehicles to the state to start a school — the “Bikram auto engineering school for children.” This particular claim drew audible derision from the jury, and a spokeswoman for the governor recently confirmed that there has been no such donation for no such school.
Still, there might be some truth in Choudhury’s protestations about looming bankruptcy. In October of last year, Choudhury lost a very public copyright battle over his right to copyright what he deemed his proprietary sequence of 26 poses. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he could have no proprietary interest in a sequence of physical poses/positions/maneuvers that are by now public knowledge. Specifically, the court held that though Choudhury’s Sequence “is an idea, process, or system designed to improve health. Copyright protects only the expression of this idea—the words and pictures used to describe the Sequence—and not the Sequence itself.” In simpler terms, if you invented a sport, you couldn’t copyright the rules and positions and demand royalties for every pick-up game. The guy who invented baseball wouldn’t have fared well trying to sue the Yankees.
The court clarified that despite the valid copyright Choudhury held for his book, Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class, he could not invoke that copyright to prevent others from performing and capitalizing on his specific sequence of positions. In support of its decision, the 9th Circuit cited cases from the 11th Circuit, the 7th Circuit and the Southern District of California supporting the position that a specific sequence of movements performed for physical or mental betterment could not properly be, themselves, the subject of copyright protection.
In addition to his myriad legal woes, the battery of recent sexual misconduct allegations have pummeled Choudhury’s public image, tarnishing the once glowing luster around the Bikram phenomenon. At this point, it remains unclear whether Choudhury’s legacy, not to mention his business, will be able to bear the weight of this latest and formidable legal loss. Either way, it’s not even clear that this loss will be his last — a conditional settlement has been reached, reportedly, in one of the other civil suits involving rape charges against Choudhury, but five others remain pending in Los Angeles County courts.
