Straight, white guys need not apply at Neiman Marcus.
The high-end department store is facing internal investigations after its chief executive officer was accused of discriminatory hiring policies.
Neiman Marcus hired an independent investigator to probe accusations that its CEO has been discriminatory in key hires and promotions — allegedly filling top jobs with mostly “gay or European men” and “white and Asian women,” The New York Post has learned.
The investigation was launched after anonymous employees posted a scathing blog accusing Geoffroy van Raemdonck of not hiring white guys.
Van Raemdonck is a gay man married to another man.
“When will straight US men be welcomed at Neiman Marcus at the most senior levels? And the same for black leaders?” the employees wrote in the blog post.
“Today, Geoffroy’s direct reports consist only of white and Asian women and gay men,” the group wrote in the Dec. 11 blog post on Telegraph, an anonymous blogging platform. “He favors men who are gay and/or European. Just like him.”
The iconic, 117-year-old retailer — which also owns the swanky Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York — refuted the discrimination claims.
The investigator found “no evidence” that van Raemdonck had “engaged in the conduct described in the allegations,” the company said in an email to The New York Post.
In a statement to The Post, Neiman said “13 straight men represent almost over 30% of the senior hires and promotion” at the company. The statement added that Neiman has promoted “16 leaders from within” including “4 white, straight men; 1 Asian man and 1 black woman.”