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NYC’s Tavern on the Green accused in harassment suit

NEW YORK The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Tavern on the Green, one of the New York City’s most popular restaurants, charging sexual and racial harassment of its employees over the past eight years.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, accused managers and nonmanager employees of targeting black and Hispanic women for harassment. The lawsuit demanded that the court order the reported behavior to be stopped and also sought $1.5 million in damages and back pay, as well as reinstatement of employment in certain cases.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Martha Nyakim Gatkuoth, one of the restaurant’s hostesses, and four unidentified employees who claimed they suffered harassment while working at Tavern on the Green. Gatkuoth accused the restaurant’s former director of operations, Leon Drogy, of touching her inappropriately and demanding that she engage in sexual acts with him. The lawsuit also accused Drogy of repeatedly using racially derogatory language when referring to Gatkuoth and other black female employees.

Mara Levin, an attorney for Tavern on the Green, said criminal charges against Drogy were dismissed in 2005 after Manhattan district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau found they were without merit and that Gatkuoth was not credible.

The EEOC’s lawsuit argues that the restaurant “knew or should have known of the severe and pervasive harassment, yet failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly the harassing behavior.”

Levin said in a statement that the restaurant would “vigorously defend this action” and that the allegations are “entirely devoid of merit.”

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