New York, NY -New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. a longtime adversary of the supplements industry, has abruptly resigned after being accused of physically assaulting four women, according to areportin the The New York Times.

He announced his resignation after The New Yorker ran an article on the alleged assaults. Schneiderman's resignation was effective immediately.

“It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as attorney general for the people of the State of New York,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me.

“While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.”

Schneiderman has long been an antagonist of President Trump and his administration, and has been a strong proponent of the #MeToo movement. He has also been a strong adversary of the natural foods and dietary supplements industry.

In fact,WholeFoodsMagazinenamedhim its Person of the Year in 2015 for his concerted efforts to “rein in” the supplements industry that year.  "His actions were arguably the most aggressive, the broadest and the deepest felt in the natural products industry this past year,"WholeFoodsMagazinestated.  Many leading voices in the industry, including Mark Blumenthal, ABC’s founder and executive director, Loren Israelsen, president of the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), and Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., CEO and executive director at the Natural Products Association, spoke out against his methods, involving initial cease-and-desist letters to GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens that were based on DNA testing of herbal extracts, a methodology that was refuted by experts.

"The efforts of several individuals in setting the record straight about his (Schneiderman's) probe into this industry are incredibly deserving of our attention and gratitude," WholeFoods continued. "While many believe Schneiderman missed the mark on improving supplements safety and furthering transparency, these individuals contributed to it by giving consumers complete and accurate information about the industry, products and testing methods in question."