Bisexual Black Woman Sues Designer Tory Burch, Former Co-Worker Over Race, Sex Issues
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A bisexual black woman who worked at a Tory Burch flagship store in Los Angeles has sued the fashion designer's company and a former co-worker for racial and sexual discrimination.
Jessica Jones filed a suit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Tory Burch LLC and worker Ann Oliver in connection with incidents that reportedly occurred from July 2011 to July 2012 while the plaintiff was working as a sales associate at the store on South Robertson Boulevard.
The suit states that Oliver told customers not to interact with Jones because she was gay, called the plaintiff's girlfriend "that thing that comes to visit her at work" and told co-workers that Jones couldn't "possibly attend church because she's gay."
Jones claims Oliver also asked her repeatedly if she was going to get fried chicken for lunch, according to the lawsuit.
In addition, the plaintiff said managers called her the "N-word" and "Ghetto."
In the suit, Jones said a male manager would allegedly leave half-naked pictures of himself on a computer that sales associates would frequently use.
Jones said she told management what was going on, but nothing was ever done because one of her managers was Oliver's friend.
The suit states Jones was ultimately forced to resign from her job.
The plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages.
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