Chanel slapped with discrimination lawsuit from former SF retail employee

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Jan 17, 2017

Chanel is being sued in state court in California by a former San Francisco retail employee for discrimination and a "campaign of harassment" according to the complaint.

San Francisco retail store manager Mia Komarevic states in her complaint that she faced retaliatory discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination after she reported seeing a Chanel director leave the store one night wearing merchandise without paying for it. Ultimately the director returned the next day with the product and it was put back in the store to be sold as new merchandise.

When Komarevic followed Chanel's policy in this situation by reporting the events to her manager, to loss prevention and corporate ops, she reportedly went from being a valued and recognized employee who had a track record of good performance to one made miserable and harassed.

In her complaint, she alleges one of the most disturbing sources of harassment was directed at her religion and her ability to practice according to the rules of the Serbian Orthodox Church, where she is a member.

After reporting the events, Komarevic's complaint alleges that Chanel “responded by ostracizing her, excluding her from training opportunities, and critiquing her performance. Most egregiously, they attempted to force her to quit by intentionally preventing her from practicing her religion ... by changing her schedule to force her to work on Sundays.”

Komarevic had previously worked for Chanel for a year without any issues. She was surprised when she contacted Chanel HR asking for a written accommodation and was told that retail might not be for her "because she needed a religious accommodation."

According to the complaint, the following week Komarevic was fired on the basis of performance reasons.

In her complaint she asks for damages including emotional distress and humiliation. Chanel answered the complaint denying all allegation and also stating that any emotional distress Komarevic may have suffered was a result of "pre-existing psychological disorder," not anything Chanel did to her.

Komarevic v. Chanel, Inc. is currently in litigation in the Northern District of California.