Gucci Class Action: Is Your Purchase Supporting Animal Cruelty?

A former top salesperson at Gucci is suing the luxury fashion house and its parent company, Kering Americas, for allegedly misleading customers about the ethical sourcing of their exotic skin products.

Tracy Cohen, who spent nearly two decades at Gucci’s flagship store on Magnificent Mile, filed the class action lawsuit in Illinois state court on June 26th, accusing the company of consumer fraud and deceptive business practices.

Lawsuit Claims Sales Ceremony Hid Cruel Reality of Exotic Skins

Cohen, who worked for the company from 2006 to 2023 and reportedly sold nearly $50 million in goods during her tenure, claims she was instructed to follow a specific sales routine when presenting Gucci's crocodile, alligator, and python skin products. She was the top-performing employee at the Chicago store for six consecutive years, from 2017 to 2023.

This routine, according to her complaint, involved wearing black gloves and presenting a rosy picture to customers. She claims she was told to assure them the skins were ethically sourced, the animals were not tortured during acquisition, and the snake skins were even a byproduct of the meat industry.

However, she contends these claims are demonstrably false and that unsuspecting customers were misled into purchasing exotic skin handbags, wallets, shoes, and luggage. She asserts that, had she known the truth about the alleged cruelty involved, would not have performed the "selling ceremony" and sold exotic skin products to her trusting customers had she known that “defendants engaged in abusive exotic skin practices”.

“Plaintiff's trusting customers relied on her representations. As a result, she sold countless Gucci products, crafted from "exotic" crocodile/alligator and python skins, including but not limited to men's loafers, women's sandals, wallets, luggage, and handbags,” the lawsuit states.

Further, had she known then what she knows now, Cohen says she would not have purchased her own Gucci exotic skin products with her own hard-earned money. 

Whistleblower Exposes Gucci's Alleged Ties to Abusive Python Farms

Cohen’s lawsuit appears to be prompted by a PETA Asia investigation into two Thailand-based python farms allegedly supplying skins to Kering.

According to the complaint, the investigation revealed disturbing practices where "workers pinned struggling pythons down by the neck and smashed them over the head with a hammer before driving metal hooks through their heads; inflating their bodies with water, even as the animals continued to move about; and skinning them."

Cohen's lawsuit highlights a potential disconnect between Gucci's public image and its alleged sales practices. She references Kering Americas and Gucci America's public pronouncements about a strong commitment to ethics and a "culture of integrity." This alleged contradiction strengthens the claim that customers were deceived into believing they were purchasing ethically sourced luxury goods.

Earlier this year, Cohen filed a separate lawsuit against both Gucci and Kering in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging discrimination based on her age and mental health during her employment with Gucci.

In the Gucci animal cruelty class action lawsuit, Cohen seeks to represent others who may have been similarly misled by Gucci’s sales practices, compensation for emotional distress, reimbursement for the cost of the python skin items she purchased (two pairs of shoes and two bags estimated to be worth less than $10,000) and potential compensation for exotic skin products sold to customers based on the alleged deceptive sales tactics.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Cohen v. Kering Americas Inc. and Gucci America Inc.
• Case Number: 2024 CH 05844
• Court: Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, County Department, Chancery Division

Plaintiffs' Attorneys

• Tamara N. Holder (The Law Firm of Tamara N. Holder LLC)
• Johanna J. Raimond (Law Offices of Johanna J. Raimond Ltd.)