Mossimo Execs Sued for Sex Harassment

A former Mossimo Inc. manager has filed sexual harassment allegations against the apparel firm’s two top executives, including founder Mossimo Giannulli, claiming that women at the Irvine company were subjected to a “severe, pervasive sexually hostile work environment.”

Laura A. Landis, who once supervised 27 employees, said that some female employees were required to model revealing clothing, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, contends that Chief Executive Edwin Lewis also subjected Landis to “vulgar, verbally abusive and physically aggressive outbursts or tirades.”

Landis, who departed Aug. 26 after more than three years with the company, also is accusing Mossimo of wrongful termination.

Mossimo officials could not be reached for comment. An attorney for the firm, Jon Anderson, said Tuesday that he conducted an investigation at the company after receiving a letter from Landis’ attorney last summer and was unable to substantiate Landis’ claims. He also said she quit and was not terminated.

Landis says in her complaint that she had initially advanced at the company, gaining more responsibilities and, by March 1998, becoming a corporate officer.

However, after Lewis was hired as chief executive in December 1998, Landis contends, she was demoted and retaliated against for refusing to give Lewis “sexual favors.”

Lewis, a former chief executive at Tommy Hilfiger Corp., was hired after chairman Giannulli agreed to relinquish half his stake in the company to Lewis, a highly regarded industry veteran. Mossimo had been struggling after trying to move too quickly away from its casual beachwear roots to more fashionable apparel.

Five former Hilfiger executives followed Lewis to Mossimo, which has been regaining its footing. Last October the company reported its first quarterly profit in two years.

Landis, however, contends that the work environment deteriorated after Lewis came aboard. In addition to Lewis’ allegedly offensive behavior, she contends that Giannulli engaged in “vulgar and highly offensive” conversations with other male employees.

She further claims that sexually explicit pictures and videos of naked men and women were displayed on computer monitors at the company.

The lawsuit states that Landis and at least one other employee complained to their superiors. But their complaints were met with “severe criticism or blatant refusals” to take appropriate action, according to the lawsuit.