Louis Vuitton Sued for Alleged Racial Discrimination, ‘Shopping While Black'
Louis Vuitton Sued For Allegedly Banning Customers For 'Shopping While Black'
update
5:50 PM PT -- Correction: An earlier version of the story identified the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Louis Vuitton as the singer Brandi Williams and her mother Tracy Renee Williams. This was inaccurate. The story has been changed to correct the error.
Louis Vuitton has been hit with a lawsuit from a mother and daughter who claim they were treated unfairly at the fashion brand's stores compared to white shoppers in the same stores.
According to court docs, Tracy Renee Williams says she preordered and paid about $50,000 for items at a Costa Mesa LV store, but never received the delivery. When she went to a Beverly Hills location, she claims a white manager told her she was no longer welcome and that she would be arrested if she stayed or came back.
Tracy claims a few days later, she sent her white assistant to the store, and he was treated respectfully and allowed to make a purchase with several thousand dollars in cash.
Williams says she has a lucrative social media presence where she reviews and showcases LV goods, and claims she’s lost about $40,000 a month in revenue since being banned from the stores.
Her daughter Brandi also alleges discrimination ... saying an LV manager at a Beverly Hills store refused to let her shop, falsely accusing her of spending "drug money" and threatening to have her arrested if she didn’t leave. She claims the same thing happened at an LV store in New Orleans.
Tracy and Brandi’s friend Kristopher Enoch also claims he saw staff show a white customer a specific jacket, but he says he was told it wasn’t available when he asked to buy it. Kristopher alleges he later received an email saying he was blacklisted from the stores.
All three are seeking damages, including punitive, and want the court to order the company to stop blacklisting them.
Originally Published -- 12:59 PM PT