Zara Is The Latest Brand Under Fire For Alleged Discrimination

Photo: Zara Facebook

It looks like Zara is the latest brand to come under fire for alleged discrimination. A former employee is hitting the retailer with a major lawsuit, claiming he was discriminated against and terminated for being a gay Jewish American.

In March of this year, Ian Jack Miller, former Zara attorney, filed a complaint against the company that alleges he was “excluded from meetings, given smaller raises than coworkers, and subjected to racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic remarks” since 2008, Reuters reported.

And to make matters even worse, Miller claimed to often witness the reported behavior from upper management. According to the NY Post, the former employee experienced everything from receiving discriminating emails of Michelle Obama serving fried chicken to hearing derogatory comments made in public by higher-ups.

Well now it’s clear Miller isn’t going down without a fight. After Zara officials received his complaint, the brand decided to terminate him from his position, which is what caused a $40 million discrimination lawsuit to be filed. Miller insisted he was fired merely because of his sexual orientation and ethnic background – which makes a lot of sense, especially since he performed extremely well in 2014.

“Zara overlooked Mr. Miller’s stellar performance, marginalized his role in the company, and gave him lower raises than employees who fit the company’s preferred profile” of Christian, Spanish and straight, Miller’s attorney, David Sanford, stated.

But this isn’t the first time the Spanish fashion chain has been under a ton of scrutiny. Reuters went on to report that the company pulled a line of handbags with swastikas on them in 2005, followed by the brand continuing to sell necklaces with figurines in blackface and tees that read “White Is The New Black” (major side-eye).

We’re hoping that Miller and the fast-fashion retailer can find a way to work out this ill-fitting situation. Within the coming months, the case will go on in front of the New York State Supreme Court, and we’ll be sure to give you all the necessary updates.

One thing we can say, is that it seems Zara has learned from past fashion mishaps on how to go about creating a successful brand in the industry.

Just check out the shots from their latest spring lookbook on the pages ahead.

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