The Prada Female Discrimination Case was a lawsuit filed in Japan by former Prada employee Rina Bovrisse accusing Prada of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. Prada denied all charges and countersued Bovrisse for defamation. In October 2012, Judge Reiko Morioka rejected all of Bovrisse's claims against Prada ruling that “the factual content of Bovrisse’s assertions that were based on gender discrimination and sexual harassment was not true and that there was no justifiable reason to believe such content to be true”. Bovrisse, not satisfied with the ruling, took the issue to

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

. The Prada countersuit, as of January 1, 2014, is still pending.

Background

Rina Bovrisse graduated from

Parsons The New School for Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhat ...

and, during her 18-year fashion career, worked at some of the world's largest luxury fashion companies including

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

SA and

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

USA. She worked at offices in New York, London, Hawaii and Paris.

Japan hired Bovrisse, a Japanese national, in April 2009 as Senior Retail Operations Manager, responsible for overseeing 500 employees and 42 stores in Japan, Guam, and Saipan.

Litigation

On December 10, 2009, Bovrisse filed a complaint against Prada before an industrial tribunal, alleging

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

and

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

against women, violating

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

in the workplace. On March 12, 2010, the judge declared that the parties had failed to settle, which would permit formal litigation to commence. On March 19, 2010, Bovrisse filed a civil suit against Prada alleging violations of women's rights. Prada countersued for damaging the company's image. The case was dismissed on October 26, 2012. Bovrisse, citing concerns of threats by the judge and suspicion of political intrigue, did not appeal this decision. Instead, she took her case to the United Nations. On April 30, 2013, the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

published a counter-report, and on May 17, 2013, the

released a statement to the

Government of Japan The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

urging to introduce new regulations that would make

in the workplace illegal. On May 15, 2010, a former

manager filed a civil lawsuit against

alleging violations of women's rights.

References

{{reflist Sexism