A former Victoria’s Secret employee said she was sexually harassed by the lingerie department manager at a Philadelphia store, according to a lawsuit. And when she reported her experience, she alleges, she was retaliated against during her shifts and ignored by company higher-ups.
The claims were laid out in a lawsuit that was filed last month in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia and reported on earlier this week by Philadelphia Magazine. The suit seeks unspecified damages from Victoria’s Secret.
The North Philadelphia woman, Ionnae Alvarado-Jones, said the harassment started in February 2022, not long after she started her job as a sales associate at the Victoria’s Secret store in Liberty Place. According to court documents, a manager repeatedly told Alvarado-Jones she was “sexy,” commented on her breasts and touched her breasts and arm inappropriately.
A store manager saw this behavior and ignored it, Alvarado-Jones alleges in the lawsuit.
Alvarado-Jones also reported the harassment to the company’s ethics hotline and human resources departments, she said, but never heard back. After Alvarardo-Jones filed an initial report with the hotline, her managers at the store started to nitpick her work and scream and curse at her, according to the documents.
A spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The manager accused of sexual harassment was named in the lawsuit, but not listed as a defendant. It is unclear whether any managers named in the lawsuit still work for Victoria’s Secret.
Alvarado-Jones, now 21, said the experience made her “physically sick,” and has turned her into a hyper-vigilant person, who can be sent into a panic by a tone of voice or an unexpected touch.
“Imagine being hyper-aware of every interaction, analyzing every word you say because you didn’t want to ‘provoke’ anything,” she said in a statement through her attorney, David Koller. “The anxiety became a constant hum in the background of my life, eventually clinging to my everyday thoughts, tasks, and activities.”
© American Military News