A senior manager at Prada Japan has filed a legal complaint against the Italian fashion label, accusing the company of harassment and discrimination based on appearance and alleging it maltreated other employees in the past.
Last May, Prada Japan CEO Davide Sesia visited some of the 40 Prada shops in Japan with Rina Bovrisse, its senior retail manager. Afterward, he asked her to "eliminate" about 15 shop managers and assistant managers he described as being "old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look," Bovrisse said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.
Prada Japan Senior Human Resources Manager Hiroyuki Takahashi gave demotional transfer orders to about 13 of those employees, citing poor sales and other problems but without mentioning their appearance, in May and June, Bovrisse said. Most of them chose to quit, she said.