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