Prada Sued For Firing "Old, Fat, Ugly, or Disgusting" Employees
Prada is being sued
by Rina Bovrisse, a senior retail manager in Japan, who was ordered to fire all staff who were "old, fat or ugly." After refusing to fire 13 staff members (they made someone else do it, although they were top saleswomen), she was then called into the office and told to lose weight and change her hairstyle because she was so ugly that the CEO didn't want anyone from the Italian office to see her.
Rina oversaw 500 staff members and 40 stores, and has worked in international fashion for 18 years. She is now suing for discrimination and harassment in Tokyo's industrial tribunal courts. The Telegraph reports:
Her allegations focus on an incident in May last year when she claims that Davide Sesia, the CEO of Prada Japan, allegedly asked her to "eliminate" around 15 managerial staff he described as "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look," following a tour of 40 stores.
Immediately after his demands, human resources reportedly notified 13 members of staff with devotional transfer orders due to poor sales, according to Ms Bovrisse, who disclosed details of the case in a Japan Times interview.
Ms Bovrisse alleges that she herself was later summoned to a meeting and informed that Mr Sesia reportedly wanted her to "change her hairstyle, to lose weight" because he was "ashamed of Ms Bovrisse's ugliness, so he doesn't want visitors from Italy to see her".
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Describing why she had launched the claim, Ms Bovrisse said: "My responsibility is to protect hard-working women and make sure their working environment is safe."
Ms. Bovrisse is a Japanese citizen. She also alleges that shop managers were forced to buy products with their own money to increase sales. Refusal would result in demotion or firing. Prada has refused comment on the lawsuit, and we have no idea what the law is on this subject in Japan. Certainly she would have an excellent case in the U.S., especially on the age discrimination allegations. In any event, the allegations are appalling.
