New York, Oct 24 (IANS): The top prosecutor of the US state of New York launched a civil rights investigation on Monday into The Weinstein Co, co-founded by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is accused of sexual harassment by many actresses.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office has sent a subpoena to the New York City-based company, seeking internal documents on harassment complaints and criteria for hiring, promoting and firing employees in order to determine whether any civil rights and anti-discrimination laws were broken, according to local reports.

An official at the attorney general's press office told Xinhua via phone that she would soon respond to the news agency's email inquiry about the reported investigation.

The Weinstein Co fired Weinstein on October 8 after The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed that Weinstein had sexually harassed actresses over the decades.

Also on Monday, New York State Assembly member Nily Rozic announced the introduction of a new legislation that would provide models with protections against sexual and other forms of harassment in the industry.