Employees file discrimination lawsuit against Saks Fifth Avenue

Luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue is the center of a lawsuit by
eight employees who allege they were unable to advance due to
discrimination.

The filed lawsuit sees the former Saks employees disenfranchised with the
department store citing race and age discrimination and that they could not
advance in their careers.

“Although they were each committed to maintaining Saks’ reputation as a
luxury retailer by providing stellar customer service, their respective
managers deliberately targeted them because of their race and/or age,” said
the suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Bronx County.

Hudson’s Bay Co. took over operations of the Saks brand in 2013, according
to New York Business Journal. The Brampton, Canada-based holding company
issued a prepared statement that it takes the allegations seriously and is
“committed to diversity and inclusion” across the organization.

Some of the men claim that Saks set them up for a disadvantage by placing
them in low traffic areas, thus reducing the amount of sales they could
bring in to the flagship Manhattan store. “Although they were each
committed to maintaining Saks’ reputation as a luxury retailer by providing
stellar customer service, their respective managers deliberately targeted
them because of their race and/or age,” the suit says.

Plaintiff Derick Longley alleges that while working as a sales associate
for Ralph Lauren Purple, another colleague instructed him to refrain from
speaking “ghetto” and “in Ebonics.” Longley claims that this colleague also
barred him from receiving a promotion to “brand ambassador” as he did not
have the “look.” Longley is African-American.

Two older plaintiffs, ages 68 and 70, claim that their supervisors
overlooked them in an effort to support younger employees. Despite
maintaining their sales, they were both fired.

According to legal firm Shegerian & Associates, this is not the first time
that Saks has faced a discrimination lawsuit. In 2016, five female servers
at the flagship-located restaurant sued citing age discrimination. The
servers claimed that the women all aged 40 and over, were terminated in
favor of their younger, male counterparts. In 2015 Saks settled a lawsuit
filed by a Houston-based transgender associate for being sexually harassed
at work.

Photo credit: Saks Fifth Avenue, source Flickr