By Priscilla DeGregory
A Manhattan judge tossed a lawsuit by an ex-dean of the Fashion Institution of Technology who claimed that she was made a scapegoat in a school scandal involving allegations of racism.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lynn Kotler ruled that the design and fashion school didn’t defame ousted dean Dr. Mary Davis when it addressed the debacle in a letter to students.
Davis sued the school in February accusing it of throwing her under the bus after The Post revealed that black model Amy Lefevre was allegedly pressured to wear oversized “monkey ears,” red lips and bushy eyebrows during a 2020 fashion show.
Lefevre ultimately walked the runway without the controversial accessories.
Davis took issue with the letter from FIT President Dr. Joyce Brown, who told students that “those in charge of and responsible for overseeing the show failed to recognize or anticipate the racist references and cultural insensitivities that were obvious to almost everybody else.”
Kotler said that Brown’s wording in the letter clearly only expressed her opinion which doesn’t rise to the level of defamation.
