The luxury fashion conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) is being sued for allegedly ignoring the persistent harassment complaints of one their senior lawyers, Andowah Newton. Not only is she saying they tossed her claims aside, but she says they allegedly chalked up her concerns to working in French culture and being attractive.

Andowah Newton is the vice president of legal affairs and litigation at LVMH, the fashion conglomerate that owns brands such as Dior, Sephora, Fendi and more. Andowah filed her complaint on Tuesday (April 24) in the Manhattan Supreme Court claiming that over a span of three years, an unnamed senior level male colleague would allegedly linger outside her office, attempt to kiss her, as well as “thrusting his pelvis and genitals into her face.”

To Andowah, her alleged harasser was persistent in making her uncomfortable in the workplace, even when she would fend off his advances. After her complaints made to the in-house lawyer were overlooked, she decided to address her harasser over email in 2018. He then responded claiming he now had to report the situation.

When Andowah was interviewed by the LVMH’s senior director of talent development, she claimed they were more concerned with her verbiage in the email, credited the unwanted attention to being an “attractive woman,” and said the director of talent apparently claimed the kissing attempts were expected of a French company. Andowah, who works out of the New York corporate office and also lived and studied in France, disputed this reasoning behind the behavior of her non-French co-worker and filed a formal complaint with LVMH’s senior vice president of human resources. According to Andwah, both internal and a third-party investigation claimed there was no wrongdoing.

The Cut reports this statement from LVMH: “There is no merit whatsoever to the allegations in Ms. Newton’s suit. LVMH has clear policies prohibiting harassment and retaliation in the workplace and procedures to address any concerns raised.”

As women, especially Black women, we are constantly being policed on what to wear, to pare down our appearance or keep our heads down in the workplace in order to avoid any unwanted attention or harassment from men. While Andowah Newton and the luxury fashion company have different recollections of the perpetrator in this case (LVMH claims he was a member of the “company’s facilities staff,” and Newton described him as, “a senior level management employee”), this situation broadens the conversations on acknowledging the behavior that makes women feel uneasy in the corporate workspace.