A former corporate lawyer for J. Crew Group Inc. who led the clothing company through its bankruptcy says she was humiliated and fired after she developed hearing loss, Bloomberg News reported. Maria DiLorenzo, who served as general counsel from 2015 until she was fired last month, sued J. Crew in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, alleging that she was marginalized after being diagnosed with a medical condition in June 2020 that rendered her deaf in one ear and caused vertigo. DiLorenzo accused the company of forcing her to work during her medical leave after she had cochlear implant surgery and refused her requests for accommodations that would allow her to continue doing her job. When she traveled to New York in July to attend a board meeting, the lawsuit filed by Wigdor LLP alleges, they isolated her so she could not hear what was happening and then fired her after she complained about her treatment. J. Crew in August 2020 won court approval of a plan that allowed it to continue operating by getting rid of debt and handing control of the business to lenders. The purveyor of preppy fashion filed for bankruptcy in Virginia in early May 2020, becoming the first major retailer to do so during pandemic-related shutdowns, though its problems pre-date Covid-19.
