The mobile phone has become the new tool for workplace harassment, as stated in the Workers' Statute, which in its article 20 bis establishes the right of employees to digital disconnection outside of working hours, with fines of up to 7,500 euros for employers who contact them through calls or messages during their rest periods. But there are bosses who go further and use phones as weapons to attack their employees. Literally.
This is the case of supermodel Naomi Campbell (London, 1970). The "ebony goddess" was not only known for her runway shows for Versace or Chanel, nor for being the first black model to appear on the cover of Vogue France. She also became a paradigmatic example of a fearsome boss: an employer who accumulated complaints from assistants, secretaries, and domestic workers for a pattern of verbal, physical, and psychological abuse.
In 2000, the model pleaded guilty to assaulting her assistant Georgina Galanis in Toronto, whom she hit with a phone during an argument. The Canadian court ordered Campbell to publicly apologize, pay compensation, attend anger management courses. It was the first time a judge confirmed what many in the industry had been commenting on: that working for her could become a risky activity.
Six years later, in 2006, the pattern repeated itself. In her New York apartment, Campbell threw a mobile phone at her domestic worker Ana Scolavino's head. The wound required stitches and led to a criminal case in which the supermodel pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. The sentence required her to perform five days of community service - including street sweeping -, attend anger management classes again, and cover the victim's medical expenses. The image of Naomi, dressed in haute couture while picking up trash in Manhattan, became a metaphor for the downfall of a fashion icon who confused authority with violence.
Campbell's fixation on electronic communication devices was evident in one of the most shocking accusations against her. Her former assistant Amanda Brack filed a civil lawsuit in New York in 2005 for assault, discrimination, and emotional abuse. According to her lawyer, Gerald McCarthy, Campbell not only slapped her but repeatedly hit her on the head with her BlackBerry, pushed her against a wall, and verbally assaulted her over an incident during a trip to Brazil when they forgot a suitcase. In another episode, after a photo shoot in Morocco, Campbell allegedly smashed Brack's passport, threw it into a pool, and left her with no money to return. Brack, then just 19 years old, claimed to have been a victim of a scheme of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse in different countries, following her hiring just a month earlier. Campbell vehemently denied the allegations, and although the case did not result in a criminal conviction, it became another symbol of the toxic environment surrounding her.
From there, the complaints multiplied. In 2006, another domestic worker, Gaby Gibson, sued her for assault and discrimination, alleging racist insults and mistreatment. Although the case did not end in a criminal conviction either, it reinforced the perception around the model. Simone Craig, another employee, reported being detained and assaulted in 2006. Around the same time, her maid Millicent Burton filed another complaint for assault.
Testimonies from former employees coincide in describing a work environment dominated by fear, with constant humiliation, shouting, insults, and an impossible expectation to meet. Naomi demanded absolute availability, inhuman hours, and loyalty tested by humiliations. Some employees recounted that, in addition to physical blows, there were psychological wounds: verbal degradation, public contempt, and always feeling on the verge of immediate dismissal.
Campbell herself has acknowledged in interviews her "explosive" character, although she has always tried to present it as a consequence of industry pressures and her complicated childhood. Her lawyers, on the other hand, consistently denied the most serious allegations, accusing some claimants of trying to take advantage of her fame. However, other episodes have worked against her and reinforced that image of irascibility, such as when she insulted and assaulted several police officers at Heathrow Airport after losing her luggage in 2008. Campbell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and a fine.
The fashion world seems to be more understanding and less inclined to cancel culture than other environments, as Campbell continues to enjoy a good reputation in the industry, and news about her vacations with her two children (born through surrogacy) and her latest bikini photoshoot in Ibiza overshadow the reports of the sentence imposed by the British government in 2024. The Charity Commission for England and Wales found that her charitable organization Fashion for Relief had only allocated 8.5% of its income to philanthropic activities, while diverting significant sums for Campbell's expenses in five-star hotels, spa treatments, room service, and cigarettes. No trace, however, of throwable phones.