The state of New York filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, his brother and their eponymous production company on Sunday for "egregious violations" of civil rights, human rights and business laws.
The suit comes four months after the Hollywood mogul's career ended in disgrace over mushrooming allegations of sexual harassment, assault and rape levelled against the producer by more than 100 women.
State attorney general Eric Schneiderman said the lawsuit was filed in New York County Supreme Court and included new allegations about Weinstein's "vicious and exploitative mistreatment" of employees.
It accuses the company's board and executives of repeatedly failing to take adequate steps to protect staff or curb Weinstein's behaviour despite multiple complaints.
"As alleged in our complaint, The Weinstein Company repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination," Mr Schneiderman said.
"Any sale of The Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched."
Weinstein is reportedly in treatment for sex addiction and is separately under investigation by British and US police, although he has not been charged with any crime. He denies having non-consensual sex.
