An ex-dean of the Fashion Institute of Technology claims she was made a sacrificial goat in a school model after a black model came forward with allegations that a school runway show was racist, the new court paper shows.
Ousted Dean Dr. Mary Davis filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday alleging that FIT President Joyce Brown threw her under the bus and defamed her days later when The Post revealed that black model Amy Lefevre was allegedly Was pressurized to wear “monkey ears”, red lips. And wild eyebrows that were “distinctly racist” – though Lefèvre eventually walked the runway without him.
On February 21, 2020, Brown announced that she was keeping Davis and MFA Fashion Design Department chair Jonathan Farmer on leave while they investigated the incident.
Brown said in the same statement that “responsible for and responsible for overseeing the show, failed to recognize or infer the racist contexts and cultural insensitivity that were apparent to almost everyone,” adding it was “unforgivable and irresponsible”. The court papers were to be revealed.
Davis alleges that “Brown’s lies were outspoken and / or Dr. Davis was racist and lacked fitness in his profession.”
Brown has been black since the court filed the claim – and “someone with authority in areas of racism” statements were “particularly credible and damaging”.
Davis claims that she “had no advance knowledge of the stuff that was used” during the February 7, 2020 showing of FIT alumnus designer Junai Hunag, court documents say.
Davis says he didn’t even know that Lefevre raised any objections just before the show started, the suit says.
Davis and Brown – seated separately from each other at the Pier 59 Studio Show during Fashion Week – both first saw the accessories playing on the runway and Brown applauded them enthusiastically.
Later, Brown and the school continued to praise the show and even made a promotional video about it – including the allegedly objectionable stuff – praising the school’s “values of diversity and inclusion” Hué, claims the suit.
It was only after the court papers claimed that the school demonstrated about its stand on the show.
“In response, to stinging criticism, Dr. Brown invented a story that diverted attention from Dr. Davis to his own guilt,” the suit alleges.
In addition, the communications department staff had previewed the show and said “and did nothing to stop [the accessories’] To include and appear on the show, ”the suit alleges.
Court papers stated that Richard Thornan, the professor who directed the show and creative director of the British fashion production company NAMES LDN, had already publicly taken responsibility and apologized for the apology.
Nevertheless, the school fired Davis in November, leading to her “death penalty for an academic and professional career”, the court alleged.
It is alleged in the court documents that Drs. Davis, who is 61 years old and is now widely and publicly labeled as a racist, will ever secure another job in his profession.
Davis is suing for unspecified damages.
Davis’ attorney, Marjorie Burman, told The Post, “My client believes that he was definitely the scapegoat for the incident at FIT.”
“This defamation was baseless, opportunistic and unjust,” Burman said. “This lawsuit will bring to light the full details of FIT’s mismanagement and misconduct allegations.”
A spokesperson for the university said: “FIT does not comment on litigation matters except that we look forward to presenting our case in court and seek to have the case dismissed at the earliest.”
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