Three sisters from Port Washington, NY have filed a federal sexual harassment lawsuit against a restaurant where they all worked.
Lauren, Ashley and Gabrielle D’Annunzio all allege that the owner, manager and cooks for Ayhan’s Fish Kabob Restaurant subjected them to repeated harassment.
In their lawsuit, filed by a sexual harassment lawyer, the young women stated that they were routinely subjected to lewd gestures and comments. They allege that workers would grab their butts and their sides and move their hands down to the hips. They are asking for unspecified damages.
In 2008, a cook at the restaurant Juan Orellana was convicted of attempting to sexually abusing Lauren D’Annunzio in the basement of the restaurant. When Lauren was going into the basement, Orellana grabbed and held her while she screamed for help. A busboy came into the basement area, and Orellana released her. He was given a sentence of four years.
The owner of Ayhan’s had no comment, but the restaurant’s manager, Dario Gomez, who is named on the suit, stated they have no case.
In spite of the efforts of sexual harassment attorneys and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, close to 31 percent of women report being sexually harassed while on the job.
Of those women who report sexual harassment, they often find their allegations aren’t taken seriously and are sometimes the victims of retaliation. These women can seek out a sexual harassment lawyer to end the harassment and protect them from retaliation.
