Ex-manager
sues Prada

The suit contends he was
fired out of retaliation

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

The Prada look may get a look in U.S. District Court.

The ex-manager of Prada Boutique, Alan Baigi, 35, last week filed a lawsuit contending that sales clerks were required to wear Prada shoes at work and injuries resulted, and that he refused to fire employees for nonbusiness reasons -- including an overweight person who didn't have the "Prada look."

The suit is against P.D. Boutique Hawaii Inc., doing business as Prada Boutique, for allegedly illegal employment practices.

Steven Chung, attorney representing P.D. Boutique Hawaii, said he does not comment on lawsuits as a matter of policy.

All employees of the boutique at 2174 Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki were required to wear a Prada uniform, including shoes. But the shoes were extremely painful, said Mark Gallagher, the attorney representing Baigi. "The employees began suffering from foot and knee pain," he said.

When Baigi told Prada operations manager Silvia Doty about the shoes, she replied that if the employees did not want to wear the shoes, "they could quit," the suit alleges.

Baigi encouraged his employees to seek medical care and pursue workers' compensation claims, the suit says, and he also needed medical treatment for his Prada shoe injuries.

"Another one they wanted fired because she didn't have the Prada look," Gallagher said. "She was a little overweight."

Baigi refused to fire the worker.

Baigi was fired May 15, 1997, according to the lawsuit. His bosses, Doty and Michael Chong, who are no longer with the company, claim they fired him based on work performance issues. But it was retaliation, the suit claims.