Zara Discrimination/Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
Case Name: Ian Jack Miller v. Zara USA, Inc., et al.
Case Type: Discrimination & Harassment, Wrongful Termination
Filed in: New York Supreme Court
Docket: Case No.: 155512/2015
Case summary
On June 3, 2015, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight filed a lawsuit against the clothing retailer Zara USA, Inc. (“Zara”) and two senior executives on behalf of Ian Jack Miller, Zara’s former in-house counsel. The lawsuit alleged that Zara discriminated against Mr. Miller based on his religion, national origin, and sexual orientation, culminating in Mr. Miller’s wrongful termination, in violation of the New York City and New York State Human Rights laws.
The Complaint alleged that Zara favored employees who were heterosexual, Spanish, and Christian – like the company’s founder and majority shareholder, Amancio Ortega.
Mr. Miller is Jewish, American, and gay. Between 2008 and 2015, despite excelling as the company’s first-and-only in-house attorney throughout the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Miller faced a vicious pattern of discrimination and harassment inside the company in the form of homophobic, racist, and anti-Semitic comments and emails, according to the Complaint. Further, the Complaint alleged, employees who fit the Company’s preferred profile received higher raises. Though Mr. Miller complained about this treatment, the Complaint alleged that neither Zara nor its parent company, the Inditex Group, took any action. In 2015, when counsel for Mr. Miller raised concerns to the company about unlawful discrimination and harassment, the Complaint alleged that Zara terminated Mr. Miller’s employment.
The matter was concluded in 2018.
News Coverage
- Panel Finds Privilege Does Not Apply to Ex-GC’s Laptop, Law.com, June 7, 2017
- Zara Can’t View Former GC’s Emails, Judge Rules, Law.com, August 18, 2016
- Ex-Zara GC Says Subpoenas Too Broad in $40M Bias Suit, Law360, January 21, 2016
- Zara discrimination lawsuit paints a ugly picture of its corporate culture, Fashionista, June 4, 2015
- Fired Jewish employee sues Zara for anti-Semitic and gay bias, The Jerusalem Post, June 4, 2015
- Zara USA’s Ex-General Counsel Files Bias Suit, Bloomberg Law, June 4, 2015
- A former employee sues Zara USA by ‘discrimination’, El Mundo, June 4, 2015
- Zara Faces $40 Million Discrimination Suit, Women’s Wear Daily, June 3, 2015
- Fired Zara retail chain lawyer files $40M suit against Spanish execs who ‘maligned him for being a gay Jewish American’ and sent him racist photoshopped images of Obama, Daily Mail, June 3, 2015
Attorneys Involved in the Case
David Sanford
Chairman
Jeremy Heisler
Co-Vice Chairman
David H. Tracey
Firm Managing Partner
Nicole Wiitala
Managing Partner for Legal Personnel and Co-Ombudsperson