Fashion designer Elie Tahari paid his ex-girlfriend a quarter of a million dollars a year for a no-show job even as he slashed the salary of a pregnant employee, a new lawsuit alleges.
Noa Kolp says in her Manhattan federal court suit that Tahari cut down her $220,000 a year salary numerous times between 2015 and 2016 — and finally fired her after she announced she was pregnant.
Yet Tahari, who heads the fashion company he founded, had no problem paying friends and family for doing nothing, including his brother, his stepmother, his ex-wife, and his ex-girlfriend JoAnne Blessinger, who received $250,000 a year, “even though she does not work for the company,” the lawsuit alleges.
Kolp said she began working for Tahari in 2014 as a business manager and consultant. She was so valuable to the company — and to Tahari himself — that when she announced plans to leave in 2015 due to her husband’s job, Tahari begged her to stay.
Tahari promised to sponsor Kolp’s work visa and to raise her $80,000 salary to $220,000 a year, she said.
At first, Tahari kept up his end of the bargain and Kolp was paid the salary he promised. But within a few months, the fashion designer told the company’s CFO that Kolp should be getting paid just $200,000, the lawsuit said.
By Nov. 2015, the president of the company, Jake Pleeter, cut her salary again — this time to $135,000, according to court papers.
Kolp said in the filing that she felt she had no choice but to accept the salary cuts because Tahari was sponsoring her work visa and “there are not many companies who are willing to hire H1B Visa employees.”
In January 2016, Kolp announced she was pregnant, which let negotiations to begin again — this time for an annual salary of $85,000 in exchange for 2 1/2 work days per week, the lawsuit said.
Pleeter offered her paid maternity leave of three months but insisted she work one day per week while on maternity leave, Kolp claimed.
Kolp said she rejected the latest salary cut — and by the end of the month she was canned.
Her suit alleges sex discrimination and retaliation and is seeking unspecified damages.
A lawyer for Tahari called Kolp “a disgruntled former employee who failed to perform her duties.”
“The company looks forward to refuting these allegations in the appropriate forum,” lawyer Jessica Rosenberg said.