Revlon Has an Unforgettable Lawsuit

Alan Meyers, a former scientific officer for Revlon Inc., is suing the company and its CEO, Lorenzo Delpani, for anti-Semitism. Meyers, who began working for the cosmetic giant in 2010, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court.

The issue began in 2013 when Revlon bought a Spanish beauty company, Colomer Group. Upon acquisition, Meyers voiced his concerns that Colomer’s use of unregulated raw materials violated safety requirements. The CEO silenced Meyers, allegedly wanting to “retain ‘plausible deniability’ about the problems” should an issue arise.

Delpani began covering the company’s tracks, including erasing an email from May 2014 in which Meyers complained about a specific plant in North Carolina.

Meyers’ constant attention to these issues allegedly ignited anti-American and anti-Semitic attitudes toward the scientific officer. The former employee claims that the CEO treated him vastly different from other employees. Those other employees were Spanish and Italian like Delpani while Meyers is Jewish and American.

The suit alleges, Delpani called Americans “small-minded” and “dirty” and said that all “Jews stick together.” Delpani was expressing his surprise that there weren’t many Jewish executives at Revlon, especially since the company’s owner, Ronald Perelman, is also Jewish.

Revlon responded to the suit, calling Meyers’ claims “completely meritless.” Revlon stated that it would “aggressively fight” the suit, referring to the case as “baseless” and “frivolous.”

Source: Huffington Post