New York- www.nypost.com Playboy’s former fashion director claims he was the victim of discrimination at the girly mag because of his sexual orientation and age.

In a $4 million Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed today, Joseph DeAcetis, [pictured right] 45, says his boss at the men’s magazine often “made fun” of him because he was gay and his hair was gray.

The lawsuit says DeAcetis’s boss, editorial director Christopher Napolitano, “referred to plaintiff and other homosexuals as ‘girls’ and laughed at [him] because of his enjoyment of baseball because it was not a girl sport.”

DeAcetis said he first started his gig as a freelancer in 2000, and was made a staffer in 2005.

The suit says he was repeatedly praised by his bosses – including CEO Christie Hefner – for innovations at the magazine, which included redoing the fashion section, introducing the concept of a music issue and beginning a “Best Dressed Man on Campus” contest.

He still butted heads with Napolitano, however, and found his duties being slowly stripped away and handed over to his 27-year-old straight male assistant and a 38-year-old straight female fashion editor.

After DeAcetis went on CW 11’s morning show to promote one of his sections this past August, Napolitano complained that “grey hair was visible” and he “looked old.”

He also told DeAcetis his younger assistant should do any future TV appearances because “his was the right look” the magazine was hoping to project.

DeAcetis said he was fired two months later because of his age and sexual orientation. The suit seeks back pay as well as damages for DeAcetis’s “mental anguish, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life.”

A rep for the magazine did not immediately return a call for comment.