A group of teachers reportedly sued Reese Witherspoon and her clothing company, Draper James, over a dress giveaway from earlier this year, Fox News reports.
What’s going on:
- Witherspoon faced backlash back in April after her clothing company offered teachers free dresses at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers realized that Witherspoon’s company would only donate to a small amount of participants who applied for the donation, according to The Chicago Tribune.
- Now, per Fox News and TMZ, three women involved from the teacher’s side filed a class-action lawsuit against Witherspoon and the company Draper James, saying the two sides benefited off the giveaway.
- The educators allege that the giveaway misled teachers since it said they would be notified about whether they were winners within three days. But the giveaway said it would only be valid while supplies last, indicating that few participants may have received winnings. The teachers said they were never told Witherspoon’s company only had 250 dresses to give out.
- The teachers alleged that the company asked for personal information, too.
- The educators suggest that Witherspoon’s company would have only needed to spend $12,500 to create the dresses — a small number compared to other celebrities. Witherspoon, the teachers said, got free advertising from the promotion on national talk shows, like “Good Morning America,” too.
Draper James has a response:
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The lawyer for Draper James issued the following response:
“This lawsuit is an unjust attempt to exploit Draper James’ good intentions to honor the teacher community by gifting hundreds of free dresses. The fact that supplies were limited, such that a free dress could not be provided to every teacher who responded, was disclosed and is no basis for a lawsuit.”
“Draper James looks forward to defending this case, to continuing its efforts to acknowledge the extraordinary contributions made by teachers during this time of need, and to being vindicated in court.”