Sacking of Dior designer unfair? No, court rules

PARIS - British designer John Galliano, sacked three years ago by fashion house Dior over a drunken anti-Semitic rant in a Paris bar, has lost his case for unfair dismissal, lawyers for both parties said on Tuesday.

A Paris labour court rejected his claim and ordered him to pay a symbolic 1 euro each (S$1.60) to Dior and the John Galliano label, which was also named in the action. Both are part of the same group.

Galliano's lawyer, Chantal Giraud-van Gaver, said she was very disappointed by Tuesday's ruling, adding that her client should appeal against the decision.

She had earlier said the claim was for between 2.4 million euros and 13 million euros, depending on how the court chose to classify the dismissal.

Until his spectacular downfall, Galliano, 54, had spent nearly 15 years at Dior and is still regarded as one of the most brilliant designers of his generation.

But his glittering career imploded in March 2011 after he was captured in a mobile phone video hurling abuse at customers in a bar in Paris' historic Jewish quarter.

The Paris criminal court in September 2011 found him guilty of proffering anti-Semitic insults in public, which is an offence under French law, on two occasions in February 2011 and October 2010.

He was spared jail and instead given suspended fines after the court accepted that he was sorry for his actions, which he blamed on drink and drugs.

Galliano was announced last month as the new creative director of Maison Martin Margiela, in a move expected to reignite his shattered career.