Fashion designer, Elie Tahari has been well-known in the NYC fashion community for quite some time now. Celebrities like Ashley Tisdale, Kate Bosworth and Sophia Bush, among many other men and women enjoy wearing his trendy garbs. However, the talk lately has not been about his contemporary clothing line, it’s been more about the $12 million lawsuit that he’s been slapped with by a 32-year-old fashion consultant. Fashion consultant, Marcy Castelgrande who once worked with the prominent designer filed the lawsuit in the Manhattan Federal Court on June 12th of this year. The lawsuit accuses the designer of groping her in front of a group of people, making her feel embarrassed, humiliated and shocked. Furthermore, it indicates after the incident occurred, Tahari who saw that Castelgrande was not receptive to his behavior, became angry and began yelling “She needs to leave. I can’t work with her. She is too sensitive. I’ve had lawsuits in the past and cannot deal with another one.” She then filed a complaint to the Human Resource Department and was fired two hours later.
Ms. Castelgrande, who worked for the 52-year-old fashion designer for a total of five years claims that the environment in which she worked was “sexually charged” during the last three months of her employment. The lawsuit states that the episode occurred while she was modeling a skirt. Tahari then, allegedly tried to lift the skirt above her panty line and inappropriately touched her private parts in front of at least ten people, both men and women.
It’s been previously reported that Tahari and his wife Rory divorced back in June of 2010. The two worked on the designer label which have graced department store racks at Macy’s, Nordstroms and Bloomingdales to name a few, for almost twelve years; him and his ex-wife, who is nineteen years his junior, share two children together.
Tahari was once quoted as saying “If you like something, go for it;” While this may be esteemed as great advice in many cases, it certainly does not apply to employers having free (sexual) rein over employees in the workplace. Any employee whose been violated by way of sexual harassment or discrimination should immediately seek the professional advice of an NYC sexual harassment and employment attorney.
If you feel you have been the victim of workplace discrimination or sexual harassment in New York City, Miami, New Jersey or Philadelphia or if your employment rights have been violated, call us at 800-807-2209 for a free consultation to discuss your possible claim. Our attorneys are available to review your claims and prepare a solid case to recover the damages and justice you deserved.
