Handbag Retailer Coach Fired Manager for Being Too Fat: Lawsuit

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A Royal Oak woman who claims she was fired as a manager for the high-end purse retailer Coach for being overweight has filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer violated her civil rights.

In her lawsuit alleging weight discrimination, Elizabeth DeLorean, 35, claims she was encouraged to undergo weight-loss surgery; watch television programs on weight-loss, including “The Biggest Loser”; take synthetic weight-loss hormones; and join Weight Watchers before she was fired as the manager of Coach’s now-closed Sterling Heights store.

Michigan state law protects workers against weight and height discrimination in the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, and a handful of U.S. cities also have anti-bias protections for workers based on their weight.

DeLorean is suing for $75,000 for intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to the petition filed by her attorney, Sarah Prescott.

“This wasn’t an isolated, ‘mean girl’ kind of comment,” Prescott told The Detroit News. “This was systematic, constant and a company-sponsored idea that there is a fit within our brand and you’re just not it.”

Coach spokesperson Andrea Shaw Resnick declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in an email to The Detroit News that “the allegations in the lawsuit are wholly without merit, and we strongly believe Coach will prevail in this matter.”

DeLorean, who began working for Coach in 2002 as an assistant manager, was promoted to manager of the Sterling Heights store in 2007. Her lawyer said she was “healthy and petite” at the time, but began to gain weight in 2010 and had gained more than 100 pounds by 2013.

In a July 2012 job performance review, DeLorean’s supervisor reportedly asked, “What happened to the Elizabeth that would bring in Lean Cuisine for lunch every day?”

The petition also alleges that when DeLorean asked for time off to attend a weight-loss seminar in August 2012, a manager with the company allegedly asked, “Why don’t you just go ahead and have surgery?”

In November 2012, DeLorean became pregnant and was fired eight months later. The petition claims that an area manager at the time said her weight was not the official reason, but was a factor.

“The official reason given, related to supposed poor performance, was a pretext,” Prescott wrote in the petition. “In point of fact, (DeLorean) was discriminated against and terminated because of her weight.”

» Photo via Coach.com