A former executive assistant for the Giorgio Armani Corporation has filed a lawsuit claiming the luxury brand ignored her sexual harassment complaints and then illegally fired her.
In a wrongful termination suit filed Monday in Manhattan, Kelle Azzopardi claims her ex-boss Laura Giulini took off her pants and exposed herself to Azzopardi in their office in June 2012.
Azzopardi claims she then reported the incident to human resources. However, no one followed up on the complaint or took any steps to ensure the behavior didn't happen again, Azzopardi says.
Giulini was the senior vice president for wholesale apparel at the luxury brand but quit in October 2012 to become the managing director at Zadig & Voltaire, The Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
During Guilini's going-away party, "Ms. Giulini brazenly gestured to Ms. Azzopardi and announced to everyone that she tried to have Ms. Azzopardi fired," Azzopardi alleges in her complaint.
Azzopardi was ultimately fired in November after "Armani trumped up negative reports" about her work performance, she says in her complaint, adding that she always received "stellar reviews" from other executives at the company.
In her complaint, Azzopardi said her termination was retaliation for complaining about her boss.
"Instead of taking reasonable steps to protect Ms. Azzopardi from discrimination, verbal and physical abuse, and harassment, Armani unlawfully terminated Ms. Azzopardi from her employment for alleged complaints from executives (which was simply a pretext for the termination) and in retaliation for her complaints to supervisors and the human resources department of Armani," Azzopardi says in her complaint.
Azzopardi is asking to be compensated for past or future income she lost after getting fired. She's also seeking monetary damages for mental anguish and emotional distress.
Armani did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment Wednesday.
Check out Azzopardi's full complaint:
DON'T MISS: Porn Star Sues Over New Condom Rule >
Please follow Law & Order on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
