She complained, took leave, came back - then lost her job weeks later, the suit alleges
A Kate Spade store manager says she was fired weeks after returning from medical leave - and alleges her termination was bias dressed up as policy.
A former Kate Spade store manager in Oak Brook, Illinois, is suing the company behind the brand, saying she was singled out, over-scrutinized, and ultimately fired because of her race, age, and disability - and for complaining about it.
Rhonda P. Stewart filed her complaint on June 4, 2026, in federal court in Chicago. She had managed the store since March 2023, hired, she says, for her retail leadership experience. The filing says she performed well at first and drew praise. Then, around December 2024, the relationship soured.
Stewart alleges that Tapestry, Inc. - which operates as Kate Spade New York - began subjecting her to heightened scrutiny, hostility, and what the complaint calls "retaliatory investigations." She says the company criticized her leadership "style" and "tone" and described her as "angry" and "loud," even as it tolerated insubordination from employees below her.
Then she pushed back. On May 8, 2025, according to the complaint, Stewart told the company in writing that she believed she was being targeted as a "58-year-old African American female." The filing states she also said she felt subjected to a "witch-hunt" and a "modern day lynching of a black woman." She alleges the company had notice she was raising race...
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