Fotografiska’s New York outpost has reached a tentative settlement agreement with a former worker who alleged in a lawsuit that she faced discrimination for being pregnant.
Lawyers for the worker revealed that the settlement was reached in principle in a June 12 letter to the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, asking for time to prepare the settlement paperwork and fully consummate it.
The worker, who was named in court documents reviewed by Artnet News, filed the lawsuit against Fotografiska in March, alleging she faced derogatory comments in 2022 after asking to sit while working since she was pregnant and wasn’t feeling well.
She initially told her manager, Christian Savini, she intended to abort the pregnancy but later informed him of her decision to have the baby. He allegedly said she was “asking too much” in accommodations.
“Everyone is talking about you because of what you are doing. Just because you had an abortion, it doesn’t mean you can ask for special treatment,” Savini allegedly said to the worker. “The recovery from an abortion doesn’t take this long, and it’s been a week, and you are still demanding special treatment.”
The worker’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit that she became “deeply distressed” and had a “mental breakdown” in the museum’s bathrooms. She made multiple attempts to resolve the situation with her superiors and ultimately “felt compelled to resign” when none of the museum’s managers would meet with her to discuss the matter.
“The museum has no statement on pending litigation,” a spokesperson for the museum said by email. They added that the “incident from 2022 is unrelated to the relocation.”
In May, Fotografiska announced that it would close its Park Avenue South facility in September, stating that it was seeking a new home because of space constraints.
“Our focus moving forward will be museum operations, upcoming projects in our current and temporary locations, and managing our relocation,” a representative for the museum said in an email at the time. “Unfortunately, this does mean a reduction down to a core team over the next few months, keeping in mind that we have the Vivian Maier and Bruce Gilden exhibits on view through September 29.”