Dov Charney
isn't the only fashion man getting sued these days. The president of Marc Jacobs, along with Jacobs himself and parent company Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, has been sued by the company's former COO Patrice Lataillade for creating a "discriminatory environment." Further Lataillade, a LVMH employee of 14 years and a Marc Jacobs International employee for eight, claims he was fired last year for complaining about said environment.
So what exactly are we talking about? According to the suit, which you can peruse below, some of examples include:
[Duffy's] displaying [of] gay pornography in the office and requiring employees to look at it; his production and dissemination of a book which included photos of MJI staff in sexual positions or nude; [and] his requirement that an MJI store employee perform a pole dance for him; his use of a nude photograph for a billboard advertisement; use of a photograph of a nude man on Twitter and his oft-repeated comments about or references to sex in the office.
Also, the suit alleges that "Duffy has behaved as if he has no obligation to follow [Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey's] rules of conduct or the law," and that "He uses company funds for personal expenses and does not censor what he does."
Lataillade, who is seeking unspecified monetary damages, also says he made numerous complaints about his bosses behavior and was eventually fired for it. Other employees who complained, he says, were essentially told to let it go. Specifically one female employee was told to get "thicker skin," and one male employee was told to "go home early and have a drink."
A spokesman for Jacbos and LVMH denies the allegations. "Patrice Lataillade was terminated as CFO and COO of [Marc Jacobs International] for serious matters unrelated to the allegations made in the complaint," the company said in a statement.
