Three sisters from Port Washington who worked as hostesses at a popular Mediterranean eatery are accusing the owner of the restaurant of allowing sexual harassment to go on despite repeated pleas for management to step in and put an end to the alleged inappropriate behavior.
Standing on the steps of the New York State Supreme Court Building in Mineola on Wednesday along with their Garden City-based attorney, Sara Kane, the sisters said nothing was done to stop the verbal and physical sexual harassment that was directed toward them on a daily basis at Ayhan’s Fish Kebab Restaurant, which has several locations.
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The workers “would make inappropriate comments,” said 20-year-old Lauren D’Annunzio. “They would touch us, and we had constantly complained to our manger who said he would go back and tell them to stop but it, [but it] just continued and they kinda laughed it off and never took it seriously.”
Kane filed the lawsuit in federal court against the owner of the chain restaurant, Ayhan Hassan, and a supervisor at the Port Washington location, Dario Gomez. The girls—who are now in their early 20s—are seeking damages “for violations of the laws prohibiting sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and negligent infliction of emotional distress,” according to the suit.
Hassan owns three other locations in Rockville Centre, Westbury, and another in Port Washington.
Kane said she filed the lawsuit after a year-long investigation by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission concluded D’Annunzio was “subjected to sexually inappropriate behavior,” according to the determination by District Director Kevin Berry. He added in the report that the evidence “supports that [the restaurant] was aware of both the behavior and complaints, but did not take action to address them.”
Hassan didn’t return calls for comment.
The EEOC ruling stems from an incident in July 2008, when Lauren was sexually abused by Juan Pablo Orellano, a cook, in the basement of the restaurant.
Orellano pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse in October 2008. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was deported after he was released.
Lauren—who was 17 at the time of the incident—said she was bringing wine upstairs to the bartender when Orellano came up behind her and put her in a “bear hug.”
Lauren said she couldn’t move and he “just picked me up, and started kissing my neck and whispering inappropriate things in my ear.”
The EEOC report says Orellano then “groped her breasts and genitals outside of her clothing while she shouted unsuccessfully for him to stop.”
“I was screaming for a while,” said Lauren, before Orellano let her go when a busboy walked into the basement.
“Unfortunately they were exposed to a hostile environment,” Kane said. “They were sexually harassed, and nothing was done by the company to stop it.”
The sisters quit the job immediately after the incident, the girls said.
Lauren’s sister, Gabrielle, said the harassment first started with suggestive comments, but were told by a female employee this ”is to be expected,” and to “ignore” the comments. Busboys and other employees would touch their butts and hips, Gabrielle said. She added, “it was more than just one person.”
At no point during their employment was there a sexual harassment policy or labor posters in the restaurant, Kane said.
She said she doesn’t know if the restaurant has changed their procedures since the 2008 incident.
“I would be thrilled to learn that they had put some kind of procedures in place so this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she said.
