The former managing director of the North American division of the airline Alitalia is suing the company for unspecified damages – claiming he was harassed and told to fire older workers, gays and lesbians.
“All new employees must be young, no more than 30 years old, no gays, no lesbians and no blacks,” Francesco Gallo says he was told, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court June 20.
When Gallo protested the alleged discrimination, he was repeatedly berated by a supervisor who assumed the married father of four was gay, court papers said.
“To me, this man was very, very sick,” said Gallo of his former supervisor, Giulio Libutti.
Libutti was eventually transferred back to Rome.
To silence Gallo, the Italian government-run company then trumped up sexual harassment charges against him, Gallo claims.
Gallo’s lawyer, Derek Smith, said the allegations were “all part of a conspiracy to set up” his client. Alitalia did not return calls seeking comment.