PLEASANTON — A former employee at Versace’s outlet store on Livermore Outlets Drive is suing the global retailer for discriminatory practices, alleging that employees of the store used a “code” to notify each other when black customers walked into the store.
Christopher Sampino, 23, the plaintiff in the case, alleged in the lawsuit that he was fired around Oct. 1 for being mixed race after working at the store for two weeks.
In those two weeks, Sampino said in the lawsuit, a training manager asked him if he knew of the “D410 Code,” and then instructed him to say “D410” — a code for black clothing — “in a casual manner when a black person entered the store.”
Sampino responded by asking the manager, “You know that I’m African-American?” He alleges that after his response, he was treated differently and did not receive “proper” training about rest breaks, for example, and did not receive login information necessary for employees to access pay stubs online.
According to the lawsuit, Sampino was fired after two weeks and was told by store management he was not being dismissed because of his “performance” but rather because he did not “know luxury” and “had not lived the luxury life.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Versace did not pay Sampino for his hours worked on his last day and that he did not receive his final paycheck on that day.
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Versace has filed a request to move the case from state court to a federal court.
In a statement emailed to this news organization, Versace said:
“Versace believes strongly in equal opportunity, as an employer and a retailer. We do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, national origin or any other characteristic protected by our civil rights laws. We have denied the allegations in this suit, and we will not comment further concerning pending litigation.”
