A former Moschino employee is suing the Italian luxury label’s U.S. arm for racial profiling and for discrimination against her, and her store’s black clients.
As reported by TMZ, Shamael Lataillade, a Haitian-American woman who held an unspecified position in the company’s boutique in West Hollywood, Calif., claimed a supervisor used a code name in reference to black clienteles, especially the ones who didn’t look rich enough. Lataillade claims she was fired for complaining to the corporation about the behavior.
The female supervisor would allegedly call the clients in question “Serenas”—presumably in reference to tennis star Serena Williams and instructed other employees to follow and watch them closely -sometimes even writing down their license plates of black clients. In one instance, purportedly called the police to report a “suspicious” customer Lataillade says “turned out to be a high-profile rapper.” TMZ reports.
Lataillade is also suing the company over discrimination against her personally. “The supervisor discriminated against her and mocking her Haitian heritage by claiming that she practiced voodoo,” TMZ reports.
In response to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages, Moschino denied Lataillade’s charges to TMZ and stated that the company “complies with applicable equal employment laws and values and respects all customers and clients regardless of their race or background.”
