Discrimination Suit Filed Against Zara USA by Former General Counsel

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Summary: Ian Jack Miller, who once served as the general counsel for Zara USA Inc., has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the fashion retailer, alleging he was discriminated against because of his race, national origin, and religion.

Ian Jack Miller, the former general counsel of Zara USA Inc., has filed a lawsuit alleging that the clothing retailer fired him because he is gay, American, and Jewish, Bloomberg reports.

  

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The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in a New York state court. According to the complaint, Miller argues that senior executives “openly used racial slurs and exchanged racist emails” in Zara’s New York office. Additionally, Miller alleges that both supervisors and co-workers sent him emails that were graphic in nature and constantly made homophobic comments to him and in his presence. According to Forbes, his colleagues emailed porn to Miller that depicted gay sex scenes, bragged to him about their sexual exploits with women, and talked about visiting prostitutes during work-related travel.

Abercrombie & Fitch is also entangled in a legal fight over alleged discrimination.

Inditex Group is a Spanish-based clothing retailer, and is the largest such company in the world. Inditex Group owns Zara.

In a statement, Zara representatives said that the allegations “are shocking, and—although we have not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit—we will respond strongly and vigorously to these allegations in the court.”

The statement added that Zara does not “tolerate any behavior that is discriminatory or disrespectful.”

Miller was the head attorney of Zara’s U.S. operations for seven years. Miller said that the accused conduct of his colleagues became even worse after they learned he was Jewish. In the complaint, he states that they “made derogatory remarks about Jews” and made “sudden and unprompted inquiries concerning Mr. Miller’s own religious beliefs.”

In March, a gender discrimination suit was filed against Twitter.

Alexandra Harwin of Sanford Heisler Kimpel LLP is Miller’s attorney. She said that in 2014, Miller began discussing the alleged behavior with the top attorney at Inditex. However, the conduct continued, and by March, Miller was told that his job was in trouble. Reuters adds that Miller alleges that he received smaller raises than his coworkers, and that executives who harassed him were protected by Amancio Ortega Gaona, the founder of the company and the second richest person on the planet.

Miller retained Sanford Heisler, which represents clients in many types of employment cases. The firm sent a letter to Zara. One day after receiving the letter, Zara fired Miller.

Last year, a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination was filed against Sephora.

It was not until Miller was fired that Terri Solomon, an attorney with Littler Mendelson PC, responded on behalf of the company.

Miller alleges that Zara violated both New York City and state labor and human rights laws. His complaint seeks $40 million in damages.

Source: Bloomberg

Photo credit: balezzi.ru