Fashion consultant Marcy Castelgrande has filed a multi-million dollar sexual harassment suit against designer Elie Tahari.
Tahari allegedly subjected Castelgrande to “extraordinarily severe, hostile work environment sexual harassment” and, in December 2011, inappropriately touched her while lifting a skirt she was modeling in front of at least 10 people.
“Mr. Tahari, without notice or reason, attempted to lift a skirt that Castelgrande was modeling above her panty line,” the lawsuits reads. The suit claims the “public crowd” that observed the incident “included her male and female coworkers, professional colleagues and supervisors.”
The 32-year-old Castelgrande, who had worked for Tahari for five years, was “humiliated, embarrassed and shocked” by the then-newly-divorced, 52-year-old Tahari’s actions. She claims that she not only told him to stop but also put her hands on her legs “to avoid exposure of her private genitalia.”
The suit describes Tahari’s reaction to her complaints:
In stubborn defiance to Castelgrande’s rebuffs, Mr. Tahari publicly announced for the whole room to hear, “She needs to leave here. I can’t work with her. She is too sensitive. I’ve had lawsuits in the past and cannot deal with another one.” Embarrassed and humiliated before her colleagues, [Castelgrande] quickly exited the room mortified.
Castelgrande brought a sexual harassment complaint to HR the day after this event; according to the suit, she was fired and instructed to leave the office two hours later.
The workplace she was leaving, as described in the suit, is one where Castelgrande “was subjected to discriminatory, humiliating, sexually perverted, filthy, lewd, unwelcome, crude and inappropriate behavior, jokes, innuendo, remarks, gestures, comments, discussions and unwanted physical contact and sexual advances.”
This marks the second time someone has sued Tahari over the past two months. Catherine Malandrino, a fashion designer and Tahari’s ex-business partner, sued Tahari in April, alleging that he turned her couture line into a downmarket brand by selling off her line to Bluestar Alliance (perhaps best known as the owner of trashy-teen retailer Hot Kiss, among other decidedly not-high-end brands.) Maladrino also claims Tahari excluded her from the aforementioned sale, which went for a price tag of $7 million.
The New York Daily News spoke with Tahari’s lawyer, Ran Daniel, who only said, “We don’t discuss any litigation.” ThinkProgress reached out to Castelgrande’s counsel, Jonathan Sack, who did not immediately return a request for comment.