September 3, 2009 By JOHN RILEY
[email protected]
A former executive at 1-800-FLOWERS.com has accused the Carle Place online vendor of sex discrimination in a
Brooklyn federal court lawsuit that says her boss referred to women as "babes" and praised her coffee-fetching skills.
Andrea Kantor of
Manhattan, a deputy general counsel and vice president from January 2007 to August 2008, says she was singled out for disparagement as the only female in the legal department, and fired after a dispute over her role in a marketing deal with
Martha Stewart.
Kantor's suit also says the company's unexplained 2008 firing of its third-ranking executive, consumer floral brand president Monica Woo, came after Woo objected to Kantor's treatment, complained of sex discrimination, and suggested in an e-mail to Kantor that the company was being run like a "boys' club."
The company, in a statement, said, "
1-800-FLOWERS.COM believes that the claims set forth in the complaint are meritless. We are proud of our long history as an equal opportunity employer, which includes women in key management roles throughout the company and on our board of directors. As such, we will vigorously defend against these baseless allegations."
1-800-FLOWERS.com, which markets gourmet foods and gift baskets in addition to floral arrangements, reported $714 million in revenues during its last fiscal year. The suit was filed Wednesday.
