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News
Drinks team suspended over stripper photos
Senior salesmen from a major US drinks distributor have been suspended after sending lewd strip club images to a Laurent Perrier executive.
Photo credit: Facebook
Southern Wine & Spirits’ sales director Joseph Eger and district manager Dimitrios Kaloudis hit the front page of the New York Post earlier this month in a photo showing them pour $1,000-worth of Laurent Perrier rosé into an ice bucket at The Hustler Club while Eger is groped by a stripper.
The photo was sent to Sabine Latapie, New York State manager for Laurent Perrier’s US arm, who suggested that it came as retaliation for a decision to find a new distributor for the Champagne house.
As reported by Page Six, Southern Wine & Spirits has now suspended “several sales management employees” while it carries out an investigation into the “disturbing allegations.”
Following the incident, Latapie reported it on Facebook, commenting: “This behavior is precisely why we are terminating our relationship with Southern New York.” She also described the act as “sexual harassment, but I won’t even go there.”
In response to news that the employees had been suspended, Laurent Perrier’s US president Michelle DeFeo told Page Six: “We are pleased that SWS is taking the incident involving the individuals in these photos as seriously as we are,” adding: “This type of conduct should not be tolerated in the wine industry nor any other.”
Come on, doesn’t Laurent Perrier sell its fizz in any stripper club? Does its check no one there gets lewd, ever?
Or is it just the bad image it is unhappy about?
This is typical of SWS employees AND of SWS policy. Whenever they “lose” a brand — i.e.: the winery or importer pulls the wine from SWS and selects another wholesaler to represent the wine — SWS always “trashes” the brand, either by closing it out at or below their cost, or in some other way trying to damage the image and value of the brand. This example is merely more extreme — and more public — than most.
So VERY true. What investigation do they need? The pictures aren’t photoshopped. Duh.
Not sure how it works in open states, but Control state SWS employees do not behave like this. It’s definitely not “typical” of my team.
Just another example of the 3-tier system giving power and arrogance to a select few large distributors and wineries while the people that actually work in the business everyday have to play by THEIR rules. Pretty un-American. C’mon, government. Do something to level the playing field and give the people what they want!
Suspended? Why not terminated? Southern, think about this. Are you giving the entire industry a bad image? And your suspension indicates it’s back to business with these trashy salespeople. Do the right thing and act in a respectful way to yourself and to your customers.
They are back working for Southern.
Terminated John, really? For what exactly? It is the accuser that should be terminated. She is the one that turned a harmless prank into something it is not with false accusations. If LP is so concerned about their image than they should not sell their products in strip clubs to begin with and as far as Ms. Latapie goes, she is a disgrace to the industry for showing it in a negative light and should not have aired her dirty laundry on social media-she should know better.
True! LP is just sour and wanted attention not to mention people’s pity.