Zara USA faces lawsuit after women finds dead mouse in dress

London - Zara may be the leading fast-fashion retailer in the world, but that does not make it immune to lawsuits. Not long after the Spanish retailer’s division in the United States was handed a lawsuit concerning deceptive pricing tactics used in store, comes news over another lawsuit - one that appears to carry rather a “pungent odour.” A woman in New York is suing Zara after she allegedly found part of a dead mouse sown inside the lining of a new dress purchased from the retailer.

Cailey Fiesel reportedly bought a black, scooped neck dress for 40 US dollars (32 pounds) at a Zara store in Greenwich, Connecticut this July. Then a few weeks later when she donned the dress for the first time and wore to work she noticed a “disturbingly pungent odour” was emitting from the garment. “Despite getting up from her desk and walking around, she was unable to escape the odour,” reads the Manhattan Supreme Court suit, filed on Monday. While walking she apparently felt something brushing against her leg, but when she went to remove what she thought was a string from the seam of dress, she discovered something more furry.

“When I went to pull at it, it didn’t feel like a string. I then felt the hem of the dress and it felt like there was some sort of sensor,” said Fiesel to the New York Post. “I turned up the seam of the dress and saw it was not a sensor and that it was a mouse…I froze — I was paralyzed with fear. I was in complete shock. My eyes saw that it was a mouse but my brain told myself it can’t be.” She claims to have seen approximately 2 1/2 inches of the decomposing rodent sticking out from the hem of her dress, before she changed.

Fiesel, who happened to have another outfit on hand, is suing Zara USA for unspecified damages, claiming the fashion retailer owns her a “duty of care” to ensure its garments are “free from defects, including rodent infestations.” The lawsuit claim notes Fiesel suffered emotional distress after the ordeal and developed a rash which stemmed from a “rodent-boron disease.” Adam Deutsch, Fiesel’s attorney added he tried to settle the case with Zara outside of court, but the Spanish retailer refused.

The mouse embedded dress, which bears a label reading Made in Turkey, has been preserved by Deutsch to be used as evidence during the trial. A spokesperson for Zara USA noted that the company is aware of the suit and are investigating the case. “Zara USA has stringent health and safety standards, and we are committed to ensuring that all of our products meet these rigorous requirements,” they added.

Photos: Zara, Facebook