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Prada Japan Sued for Alleged Discrimination Against 'Old, Fat, Ugly' Employees

by Erin Donnelly (Subscribe to Erin Donnelly's posts)
Posted Mar 19th 2010 at 2:04PM  
1 Comment
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prada storefront

Prada could be in some legal haute water. Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Getty Images

Time for another round of "Judge Judy: Fashion Edition."

A former store manager at Prada Japan is pursuing her discrimination and harassment case against the Italian fashion house's Japanese subsidiary by filing a lawsuit today, WWD reports.

Rina Bovrisse, who worked as a senior retail manager, claims that Prada Japan chief executive Davide Sesia ordered her to fire 15 managers and 15 retail staffers on the basis that they were overweight and unattractive, according to the paper.

Today's lawsuit filing comes after Bovrisse's complaint with the Tokyo District Court was reportedly dismissed earlier this week and her employment was subsequently terminated.

Because a settlement was not agreed upon, Bovrisse reportedly says that she is free to pursue her case in court.

"You can't stop people suing you," a Milan-based Prada spokesman told WWD. "We are very serene and we'll fight back in the appropriate way."

(What does that mean? They'll yoga her to death?)

Bovrisse's original complaint charged that Sesia wanted to fire employees he deemed "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look," the Huffington Post previously reported.

She also claims that Sesia demanded that she lose weight and change her hairstyle.

After his visit, 13 employees were reportedly transferred while most of the rest quit. Bovrisse, meanwhile, went on involuntary leave to pursue her case (but, as noted above, has since been fired).

"The level of harassment is beyond human understanding," the Huffington Post quotes Bovrisse as saying. "My responsibility is to protect hard-working women and make sure their working environment is safe."

Prada Japan isn't the only fashion fixture to face charges of discrimination based on its employees' appearance. As we previously reported, a former Abercrombie & Fitch employee won a settlement from the brand after accusing them of harassment over her prosthetic arm.

Abercrombie & Fitch is currently fighting a lawsuit from an ex-worker who says she was fired for not removing her Muslim headscarf, Time reports.

Meanwhile, read about this "Jedi" who got kicked out of a job center for wearing a hood.

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Filed under: Fashion, News, Designers & Brands
Tags: abercrombie fitch, appearance, discrimination, dress codes, fashion lawsuits, lawsuits, overweight, prada, prada japan
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