GUCCI SALESMAN CLAIMS HE GOT FIRED AFTER HE TURNED DOWN A GAY MANAGER!

A salesman at Gucci's Fifth Ave. flagship claims he was cast aside like last year's clutch when he rebuffed a touchy-feely gay manager, the Daily News has learned.
Adolfo Mendez, who says he was a top seller for the luxury goods giant, has filed a $5 million suit claiming he was discriminated against because he's straight.

The married man says the trouble started when Michael Daly took over as manager and started getting up close and personal.

Daly crept up behind Mendez and gave him an unwelcome massage, from his shoulders to his rear end, according to papers filed Thursday in Manhattan Federal Court.

The first time, Mendez says, he just froze. A few weeks later, Daly tried again - and Mendez says he asked him to stop.

"I said, 'Look, I really don't appreciate this. You touched me. I don't think it's professional,' " Mendez told The News.

"He gave me this look. It wasn't like, 'Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it.' It was like, 'You bastard, how dare you?' "

About the same time Daly came to the Manhattan store, a new manager, David Gray, took over the women's clothing department and became Mendez's direct boss.

"I know you're gay," Gray allegedly told Mendez, who says the manager's favorite subject of conversation was sex.

When Mendez made it clear he didn't enjoy the shenanigans, he started getting reprimands.

He said he complained to human resources last year and was placed on paid administrative leave and then fired less than two weeks later.

Gucci officials could not be reached for comment.

An employee at the Fifth Ave. store said Gray and Daly no longer work for Gucci, but the circumstances of their departure were unknown. They could not be reached directly.

"Clearly the behavior in this case was pitiful," said Mendez's laywer Rick Ostrove of Leeds Morelli & Brown.

"Not only are the managers engaging in inappropriate sexual banter on a public floor, the HR department retaliated against the employee who brought it to their attention."