TRENTON
– The state Division on Civil Rights
has filed a five-count discrimination lawsuit
charging the owner of a Camden eatery and
coffee shop with sexual harassment, creating
a hostile work environment and the retaliatory
firing of a female employee who reported
his alleged conduct.
Filed in New Jersey Superior Court in Camden
County, the lawsuit names as defendants
both Ronald Ford Jr. and City Coffee, Inc.,
the restaurant and catering business Ford
owns and operates at 529 Market Street in
Camden.
The Complaint charges that a hostile work
environment prevailed at City Coffee, with
Ford allegedly engaged in a “pattern
or practice” of subjecting female
employees to lewd comments, unwanted touching
and repeated requests for sexual favors.
The lawsuit also alleges that, in the case
of one employee, Ford engaged in “quid
pro quo” sexual harassment by asking
her to accompany him to a rear office and
discussing the possibility of promoting
her to Assistant Manager while making unwanted
physical overtures. The Complaint accuses
Ford of terminating the same employee after
she reported his alleged harassment, first
to other employees, then the Camden police.
The lawsuit also charges that Ford created
a work environment so intolerable that numerous
female employees were forced to quit their
jobs to avoid being harassed.
“The
accusations in this case are very troubling,”
said Division on Civil Rights Director J.
Frank Vespa-Papaleo. “Numerous women
who were employed by Mr. Ford at City Coffee
allege that they were groped, spoken to
inappropriately and propositioned for sex
on a regular basis, and lived in fear of
termination if they complained about it.
These allegations paint a picture of someone
who routinely exploited the employer-employee
relationship for his own gratification.”
The
six employees identified as Ford’s
accusers in the lawsuit are Amy Gross, Quiana
Spratley, Carita Leftridge Courtney Allen,
Kareny Aviles and Dedra Broome. Four of
the women – Gross, Allen, Spratley
and Aviles -- allege that Ford routinely
touched or rubbed against their buttocks,
among other unwanted actions. Aviles alleges
that Ford often had her come to his office
alone to receive her paycheck, then subjected
her to inappropriate touching, suggestive
overtures, and invitations to pose for nude
photographs. Leftridge alleges that Ford
asked her to don revealing clothing so he
could photograph her in an upstairs studio,
and that he touched her inappropriately
after following her into a basement storage
area.
Broome alleges that, in June 2006, Ford
summoned her to a rear office area located
behind the City Coffee shop. According to
the Complaint, Ford began discussing promoting
Broome to Assistant Manager and, as he spoke,
engaged in a number of inappropriate physical
overtures including straddling the seated
Broome and pulling her arms around him as
if to hug him. Broome alleges that she reported
the incident to fellow employees and the
Camden Police Department, and that she was
terminated the next day. Other employees
identified as Ford’s accusers told
state investigators they quit City Coffee
to avoid further harassment.
The state’s lawsuit seeks an order
from the court directing Ford to stop subjecting
his employees to sexual harassment, and
an order that he and City Coffee, Inc. submit
to training and monitoring by the Division
on Civil Rights for a period of two years.
The suit also seeks compensatory damages
on behalf of Ford’s six accusers and
for “similarly situated female employees
and former employees of City Coffee”
for emotional distress, mental pain and
humiliation. The suit also seeks punitive
damages for the Division on Civil Rights
because of the “intentional and willful
nature” of Ford’s alleged conduct.
>>
City
Coffee Complaint (847k pdf) plug-in
The Division on Civil Rights is responsible
for enforcing the New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination. Specifically, the Division
investigates allegations of discrimination
in employment, housing, places of public
accommodation and credit. The Division has
six offices including Atlantic City, Camden,
Jersey City, Newark, Trenton and Paterson.
Further information is available on the
Division Web site www.NJCivilrights.org
.
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