Boohoo co-founder Jalal Kamani, 65, is facing a court clash over claims he manipulated and controlled Leanne Holmes (left)
A co-founder of the Boohoo (BOO.L) fast-fashion empire is facing a court clash over claims he manipulated and controlled a younger female colleague amid an unhealthy, booze-fuelled office culture.
Jalal Kamani, 65, who helped establish Boohoo with his brother Mahmud, will be at the centre of High Court case in Manchester as his former colleague and romantic partner Leanne Holmes, 42, sues for £20m.
She alleges that his treatment of her included engaging a “spirit guide” to help persuade her to leave the new fast-fashion business they had built, I Saw It First.
In an encounter that Ms Holmes found “deeply disturbing and distressing”, the spirit guide told her that “Mr Kamani wanted her to work less and focus on finding a husband and having children”, it is claimed in court filings.
In his defence, Jalal Kamani said he had engaged a “life coach, not a psychic spirit guide” and that he had not arranged the conversation.
Jalal Kamani said he had engaged a ‘life coach, not a psychic spirit guide’ and that he had not arranged the conversation - Shutterstock
Jalal Kamani had hired Ms Holmes to build I Saw It First following his resignation as a director of Boohoo in 2017.
Three years earlier Boohoo had made its stock market debut with the Kamani family’s combined 44pc interest worth £370m at the end of its first day of trading.
Despite the apparent split, Jalal Kamani retains a multimillion-pound stake in Boohoo and was pictured in December attending the meeting where shareholders voted against an attempt by the Frasers billionaire Mike Ashley to force his way on to the board.
Ms Holmes alleges that she is owed £20m based on a large shareholding in I Saw It First, which she claims she was promised. Jalal Kamani has denied all allegations.
A trial due to take place in April is set to lift the lid on a workplace which Ms Holmes – who had an affair with Jalal Kamani for around two years from 2018 – alleges was discriminatory towards women during his time in charge. He denies any wrongdoing.
The fast-fashion brand, known for its connection to popular reality TV show Love Island, was sold to Mr Ashley’s Frasers Group (FRAS.L) for £1 in 2022, when Jalal Kamani stood down as a director at the company.
I Saw It First’s latest set of accounts show that the business lost more than £8.5m for the year to April 2023.
Leanne Holmes alleges that she is owed £20m based on a large shareholding in fast-fashion brand I Saw It First
In court documents, Ms Holmes claims she was controlled financially by Jalal Kamani with large sums of money as well as via a barrage of texts, WhatsApp messages and calls even after she said she wanted to cut contact outside of work. Mr Kamani has denied the claims.
In court filings his lawyers argue that if he did call in the circumstances alleged this was “because he was concerned for her welfare as she had failed to respond to messages on a weekend when she would ordinarily be available and would respond”.
She also alleges that the Manchester-based business was run by Jalal Kamani in a way which was “unnecessary wasteful,” such as employing valets to park cars and spending an unnecessary amount on office alcohol. He denies the allegations.
She claims that this formed part of an “unhealthy culture in the workplace, particularly as regards the treatment of women by men in the senior executive team”.
“Alcohol was particularly targeted towards informal, or impromptu, office gatherings with young women who were encouraged to drink large amounts of alcohol and it was inferred that this was done to encourage and facilitate sexual flirtation,” she said in court documents.
She argues that this “contributed to later complaints as regards sexual harassment and/or discrimination in the workplace”.
“Mr Kamani allowed Ms Holmes and other females in the workplace to be subjected to sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation by other male members and senior management,” she claims. Jalal Kamani denies the claims.
Ms Holmes said she was warned in 2019 not to report an allegation of sexual harassment to the company’s HR.
Jalal Kamani claims that they also received bullying complaints against Ms Holmes from members of staff, and she was therefore suspended in December 2021. A separate employment claim by Ms Holmes has been stayed while the High Court case proceeds.
In court papers Jalal Kamani argues that Ms Holmes was an “enthusiastic participant” in the office drinks parties that “took place in the office on an irregular and not monthly basis, even inviting friends not associated with the company to attend”.
“It is specifically denied that young women were encouraged to drink large amounts of alcohol, that there was an unhealthy culture in the workplace and that there were any complaints as regards sexual harassment and/or discrimination save by those raised by Ms Holmes,” they argued.
Lawyers for Jalal Kamani did not respond to requests for comment.
This is not the first time Kamani family employment practices have come under scrutiny. In 2020, The Guardian reported that a supplier accused of paying staff below minimum wage was linked to I Saw It First. The company did not comment on the allegations.
Mahmud Kamani is Boohoo’s second-largest shareholder, with a stake worth £49.5m - Jerritt Clark/Getty Images
Boohoo, which is not implicated in Ms Holmes’s claim, has also faced repeated criticism over its treatment of workers. Jalal Kamani’s brother, Mahmud, remains Boohoo’s second-largest shareholder with shares in the business worth £49.5m, while he is the 15th-biggest with shares worth £8.5m.
He significantly reduced his stake in the business in 2018, when he gave stock worth £63m to his children.
An independent review into Boohoo, which has been criticised for encouraging throwaway fashion, found in 2020 that its bosses knew workers were being mistreated in the fast fashion firm’s Leicester supply chain months before a “sweatshop” scandal had exploded in the media.
Jalal Kamani, who was known by colleagues as “the king of Leicester” for his role in the supply chain, did not work there at the time.
Alison Levitt KC found no evidence Boohoo had committed any crimes, but said the company failed to take action fast enough and warned that its supply chain is likely riddled with bad behaviour.
She said: “It is more likely than not that these conditions exist across the best part, if not the entirety, of Boohoo’s Leicester supply chain. The problems we have described are endemic.
“I have concluded that, in truth, Boohoo has not felt any real sense of responsibility for the factory workers in Leicester and the reason is a very human one: it is because they are largely invisible to them.
“It is hard for people to empathise with the plight of those of whom they know little.”
Boohoo announced a series of supply chain and corporate governance reforms in response, which it said would “drive long-lasting and meaningful change”.
The online clothing empire has made the Kamani family a fortune. Last year Mahmud Kamani’s son Umar, the co-founder of PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo’s 12th-largest shareholder, hosted a four-day, £20m wedding in the south of France that included performances from Ronan Keating, Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey.
