Suit settled, Perry Ellis cleared for MIA lease

Perry Ellis week got the formal all-clear from Miami-Dade County over a discrimination lawsuit that had threatened to hold up the company’s pending retail space at Miami International Airport.

The 2015 suit by an executive at the Doral-based company accused the clothier’s incoming CEO, Oscar Feldenkreis, of making racist and homophobic remarks. But the plaintiff, Joseph Cook, agreed to settle the suit earlier this year for undisclosed terms, leave the company and issue a statement said Perry Ellis “is a diverse and inclusive Company, and has always been so.”

Cook’s statement continued: “My overall tenure at the Company demonstrates that the comments I complained about are not reflective of the overall culture of Perry Ellis, the character of its leadership, or the Feldenkreis family.”

The lawsuit overlapped with Perry Ellis pursuing a lease at county-owned MIA, and the County Commission requested a query into the circumstances of the litigation. This week, Mayor Carlos Gimenez issued a memo saying the case was settled “amicably” and recommending that MIA “proceed with the Perry Ellis lease.”

Lawyers for both sides were not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Suit settled, Perry Ellis cleared for MIA lease."