Hispanic cosmetic-store workers say they are suing the French-owned Sephora chain for banning them from speaking Spanish at work – even when taking a lunch break.
Five women, who filed a federal discrimination suit in Manhattan yesterday, said their bosses belittled them for speaking Spanish – although other store workers freely spoke French and Italian.
“To be constantly told not to speak Spanish – even when we were in the lunchroom – was upsetting,” said employee Leydis Rodriguez, 24, yesterday.
“Managers would mimic our speech and accents if they heard us speaking Spanish – it made you feel uncomfortable.”
The bosses also allegedly told Hispanic workers to smooth out their hair so they would look “more French,” the women said.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit on behalf of the women after investigating their complaints.
Angela Samboy, 25, who worked at a Sephora store in Rockefeller Center for three years, said she complained to her managers several times, but was told the company had a policy that Spanish not be spoken in any of its 75 American stores.
Samboy said she wasn’t told why the policy was in force.
“I didn’t really ask whether they thought customers didn’t like Spanish – I didn’t want to lose my job,” she said.
But Samboy and Rodriguez found themselves without work when the Rockefeller Center store was shut down last year.
The court papers said Sephora acted with “malice and reckless indifference” to the legal rights to the workers.
“They [the workers] were told that they should direct their complaints to the very managers discriminating against them and [Sephora] otherwise made no efforts to prevent or eradicate the continuing discrimination,” the papers said.
By forcing the Hispanic workers to speak English only, the company could be found in breach of employment laws, unless it can show it had a “legitimate business justification.”
EEOC lawyer Raechel Adams, representing the women, said the company is accused of unlawfully retaliating against the women because they complained about the Spanish ban.
She said the suit was filed after the EEOC’s efforts to resolve the matter without litigation was exhausted. The women are suing for unspecified damages.
Sephora is regarded as one of Europe’s leading retail beauty chains and has 11 stores in the metropolitan area.
The company did not return The Post’s calls for comment yesterday.