Ex-J. Crew GC Nabs Job While Pushing Suit Against Past Employer

J. Crew Group LLC’s former general counsel has taken a job with a Chicago-based nonprofit as she prepares for depositions tied to her ongoing wrongful termination lawsuit against her former employer.

Maria DiLorenzo last month was named general counsel for the Erikson Institute, which focuses on early childhood education and development, including for those with disabilities.

She “has several depositions in the coming weeks,” one of her lawyers in the J. Crew case said in a filing Tuesday. DiLorenzo alleged in her late 2021 lawsuit that the clothing retailer fired her after she lost hearing in one ear. Her civil complaint seeks unspecified damages from J. Crew over the company’s alleged failure to legally provide disability accommodations.

DiLorenzo spent seven years as general counsel for J. Crew, which she joined in 2015 after working for more than 16 years in legal roles at Sears Holdings Corp. She commuted from Chicago to help New York-based J. Crew emerge from a pandemic-related bankruptcy proceeding in 2020.

The court filing Tuesday shows that DiLorenzo and defendants in the case, including J. Crew and its chief executive, Libby Wadle, are engaged in an arbitration before John Lifland, a former federal judge affiliated with dispute resolution group JAMS. “With cooperation,” DiLorenzo is prepared to conduct all depositions prior to a deadline of Sept. 30, 2023, Valdi Licul, her lawyer and a partner at New York’s Wigdor, said in the filing.

DiLorenzo, who is also being represented by Wigdor name partner Douglas Wigdor, didn’t respond to a comment request. J. Crew’s lawyers declined to discuss pending litigation.

Littler Mendelson partners A. Michael Weber, Jean Schmidt, and Ivie Serioux are representing J. Crew in the DiLorenzo litigation. Littler has handled several employment and civil rights cases for the multi-brand fashion retailer and its affiliates since 2007, according to Bloomberg Law data.

Court filings in the dispute show the case was reassigned a year ago to US District Judge Jennifer Rochon in New York. Rochon joined the bench in early 2022 after working as the first-ever general counsel for the Girl Scouts of the USA and serving as a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.

J. Crew, founded in 1983, agreed in 2010 to be taken private. The company, now controlled by hedge fund Anchorage Capital Group LLC, was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges and other firms when it converted $1.6 billion in debt to equity via its insolvency three years ago.

The company in 2022 hired DiLorenzo’s replacement, Stacy Siegal, who was top lawyer at clothing and accessories retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc.

The case is DiLorenzo v. J. Crew Group LLC, 21-cv-10768, US District Court, Southern District of New York, 9/5/2023.