The assumption isn't always safe
It's easier to formally model the behavior of firms if we assume they are only interested in maximizing pecuniary profit. However, I think in the case of Dov Charney's American Apparel, something else is also being maximized.
clearly people are allowed to enter and leave employment. I am not sure
why the author thinks that the factory, the company, the investment, and
the particular grouping of workers at the factory are not property of the
owner. The author quotes the UNITE union as claiming that the owner is
"paternalistic." I am convinced that the underwear culture of the ads is a
spillover from the errotic perversion of the owner, but I don't think it is
out of line with what else is in the market. How do you sell sexy
underwear and erroticisim without being errotic? I have sucessfully
avoided seeing these ads until now, because markets work. I am sure that
if I was looking for this type of thing it would be available. It is the
bleeding heart that is being paternalistic by seeking to do this business
harm, not the owner of a private business.