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A not-so-charming turn of events. Naomie Olindo has been sued for fraud and breach of contract by L’Abeye cofounder Virginia “Ginny” Cox, Us Weekly can confirm.
Cox alleged in her court filing, obtained by Us on Thursday, October 20, that the 30-year-old Southern Charm star had employed deceptive tactics to main control of L’Abeye, in which they had 50/50 ownership stakes and misappropriated earnings.
“At times, Olindo would mention to Plaintiff that their account funds were low and Plaintiff would question Olindo about the low funds because of the amount of revenue and profit that L’Abeye appeared to be making,” Cox’s court filing read, alleging she was unaware of their profit margins. “Subsequently, Olindo excluded Plaintiff from any information about the finances.”
The fashion buyer — who asserts that the reality TV star approached her in early 2018 to help build L’Abeye due to her merchandising background — claimed in her court paperwork that Olindo “misled” her about the company’s finances and “failed to treat the company as a separate and distinct entity.”
Cox was ultimately fired by the France native in May, with Olindo allegedly claiming that Cox “never had an ownership interest” in the e-commerce brand. While the University of South Carolina grad has attempted to seek employment elsewhere, she has claimed that Olindo had been blackballing her.
Cox is seeking a trial by jury, suing her former colleague for 14 causes of action, including breach of contract, dissolution of partnership, fraud and defamation and is hopeful for an award based on actual and punitive damages. The Bravo star, for her part, has denied her former business partner’s allegations.
“Our client does not comment publicly on pending litigation,” Olindo’s attorney told Us in a statement on Thursday. “However, obviously these allegations made by a disgruntled former employee are false and misleading. We will soon be filing a formal response to these allegations that will help to set the record straight.”
The first L’Abeye merchandise drop was released in June 2018, with Olindo and Cox jointly at the company’s helm.
“I launched L’ABEYE in June 2018 with my partner, Ginny Cox,” Olindo told FitsNews in August 2020. “She had retail/ fulfillment/ buying experience, is smart, hardworking, and we vibe very well together so I thought it would be a good fit. It was more of a hobby at that point and we had no real expectations.”
She added at the time: “I really hadn’t ever planned to be in e-com selling clothing but now seeing what it can become if it’s done right – we plan to keep expanding L’ABEYE month by month. My biggest goal is to almost completely vertically integrate L’ABEYE, from the real estate, to the factories, to the textiles, and everything in between [in the next five years].”
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