A former employee of the Bay Area Versace retail establishment is claiming that the store had a code name that was to be used any time a black person came into the establishment.
The former employee, who is suing Versace for wrongful termination, claims that the manager required all employees to use the code D410 when any African American clients entered the store. According to TMZ, D410 is also the code for any and all black shirts so when someone entered a department they were required to call D410 into their headpiece. For example, “I have a D410 in the lingerie section.”
The employee who has brought these accusations to light in his current lawsuit says that he shocked the manager when he replied stating:
“You know that I’m African-American?”
After rebutting the demand by management, the employee was then refused breaks and fired just two weeks later because the store claimed he “hadn’t lived the luxury life.”
With the current state of our country and the rampant racism and xenophobia running though it, you would think a high- end label would make sure that they were in no way excluding anyone based on the color of their skin. However, if these allegations are true, it just shows how embolden our country has become since the elections began in 2016.
We are still at a point where allegations can be brought forward to the courts in order to protect our civil liberties, but it is questionable as to how long our rights will be preserved. The fear of non-conformity, as it was decades ago, may begin to seep into our country as President-elect Donald Trump and his ragtag band of deplorable’s begin putting their foot down on issues that were resolved long ago.
Versace is denying all claims and has asked the courts to dismiss the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C79ynit6_u0
Featured image via Fashion Week.
