Alteration Altercation : 2 O.C. Women Needled by Saks Charges Sew Up Case
Two Orange County women stood outside a Beverly Hills department store Tuesday and announced what they called a major victory for American women: Saks Fifth Avenue agreed to reduce some clothing alteration charges for women.
Muriel K. Mabry of Anaheim Hills and Lorie Anderson of Mission Viejo said they had forced the retailer to reverse “sex discrimination practices” that resulted in women being charged more than men for clothing alterations.
Saks officials denied that the chain discriminated against women but confirmed that a settlement had been reached with the women.
Legal wrangling over hems, pleats and stitch lines began in June, 1988, after Mabry, who owns a career-consulting company in Orange County, purchased a $345 evening dress for a “heavy” date. Over her protests, Mabry paid $41 to have the hem and sleeves shortened and a hook and eye added to the front of the dress. She believed that the charges were unfair because her male friend did not have to pay for alterations to a $500 suit.
About a month later, Anderson, Mabry’s friend and co-worker, dished out $1,500 for an evening gown from Saks to attend a gala Christmas Eve bash at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach. But Anderson fumed when the sales clerk told her that she would have to pay an extra $40 for alterations. Only a few days earlier, she said, her husband had bought a suit and tuxedo and did not have to pay “a red cent for extensive alterations.”
After exchanging stories, the two women decided that they were ready for a legal altercation over the alteration issue and contacted attorney Gloria Allred. The attorney filed a class-action suit in Los Angeles Superior Court last September charging that Saks violated California’s Civil Right Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by businesses.
Saks, which has hired an international public relations company to handle the national publicity generated by the suit, decided that it was better to settle the matter out of court. But officials of the New York-based company insisted Tuesday that it was not guilty of sex discrimination, saying it was only a “minor misunderstanding.” Saks officials said the chain charged more for women’s clothing alterations because they involve more complex tailoring.
“Then why did they decide to settle and pay attorney fees? It was more than a small misunderstanding,” Allred said.
Said Patricia Fox, director of fashion and marketing for Saks in Southern California: “It’s standard to pay the litigant’s attorney’s fees.”
Allred’s fees for the case were $24,081.
In an unrelated settlement last month, two major dry cleaning associations in Washington urged their members not to charge more to launder women’s clothes. The associations’ action followed a lawsuit filed against 25 Washington dry cleaners and the industry’s biggest association--the International Fabricare Institute--by George Washington University law students.
During a sidewalk news conference in front of Saks’ Wilshire Boulevard store, Allred pointed to a chart showing that Saks had eliminated or reduced charges for some alterations to hems, sleeves and waists. Before the settlement, such alterations could have cost up to $18. The change in policy took effect Tuesday in Saks’ 45 branches nationwide.
“These changes will save women millions of dollars and will mend the relationship between Saks and American women,” Allred declared over traffic noise along Wilshire Boulevard. “And I’m giving these stores who continue to discriminate against women a 30-day amnesty to clear up discrimination policies. . . . If they do not, our law firm or other attorneys will file lawsuits against them.”
Mabry and Anderson said the new alteration policy would save each of them hundreds of dollars a year. “They (Saks) account for three-quarters of my wardrobe,” said Anderson, who, like Mabry, estimates that she spends $5,000 to $10,000 annually at the store.
Mabry, who wore a $350 Christian Dior three-piece suit Tuesday, stood at Anderson’s side and said, “It’s amazing that a Size 2 and a Size 4 can take on such a big issue and prevail.”
Said Anderson, “I am proud to have fought for women all over the country.” Then she stepped in to Saks and purchased a $400 designer outfit.
