A Long Island restaurateur berated and beat a gay employee in front of other staffers after he wore the wrong shoes to work, slugging him so hard a tooth flew from his mouth as he barked \u201cF\u2014king faggot I\u2019ll murder you!\u201d according to a new federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 15, 2019, Emilio\u2019s Pizzeria & Ristorante owner Emilio Branchinelli, who has launched at least five Long Island eateries in the last decade, noticed that waiter Michael Abenante was wearing black Converse sneakers, according to the complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court on Friday.<\/p>\n
Branchinelli ordered the server, who was hired at the Commack restaurant in late 2017, to buy new shoes on his break or \u201cfind another f\u2013king job,\u201d wrote attorney John Luke Jr. in the complaint.<\/p>\n
But when Abenante returned with a new pair, an enraged Branchinelli told him they were not the right shoes. \u201cYou look like a f\u2013king homo mountain climber, are you f\u2013king stupid?\u201d his boss allegedly admonished. \u201cYou and your c\u2013t mother both should\u2019ve died when she pushed you out!\u201d<\/p>\n
The disturbing tirade continued as Branchinelli chased the waiter from the restaurant, allegedly kicking him in the lower back and punching him in the face so hard he spit out a tooth, the complaint alleges.\u00a0 \u201cF\u2013king faggot I\u2019ll murder you,\u201d Branchinelli allegedly seethed during the beating.<\/p>\n
After the humiliating assault, Abenante never returned to the restaurant, where he allegedly faced harassment and discrimination from the moment he was hired.<\/p>\n
The kitchen staff allegedly called him \u201cculero\u201d \u2014 a Spanish slur for a homosexual \u2014 and whistled at him, blew him kisses and slapped his behind, the papers allege.<\/p>\n
He repeatedly complained to management \u2014 but nothing was done, the filing states.<\/p>\n
Waitress Sabrina Kozminsky, who was hired in June 2019,\u00a0 was another victim of sexual harassment and discrimination while employed at the restaurant, according to the suit. She was subjected to groping and a barrage of sickening comments from the kitchen staff \u2014 including \u201cI wanna put a baby inside you\u201d and \u201cYou like it in the a\u2014?\u201d the lawsuit charges.<\/p>\n
She repeatedly complained to her supervisor, Lena Branchinelli, who is the owner\u2019s daughter, but the harassment escalated, the papers allege.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pizza kitchen manager, Jose Daniel, crouched down to get something beneath her while she was standing at a computer kiosk in the back, and groped her leg up to her buttocks with his hand,\u201d the complaint charges. A few months later, another employee grabbed her butt.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the \u201csexually charged hostile work environment\u201d she was forced to quit, the papers state.<\/p>\n
Abenante and Kozminsky are suing for punitive and non-punitive damages alleging civil rights violations and discrimination. Abenante also alleges civil battery.<\/p>\n
Emilio Branchinelli didn\u2019t immediately return a request for comment. Lena Branchinelli declined.<\/p>\n\n
A Long Island restaurateur berated and beat a gay employee in front of other staffers after he wore the wrong shoes to work, slugging him so hard a tooth flew from his mouth as he barked \u201cF\u2014king faggot I\u2019ll murder you!\u201d according to a new federal lawsuit. On Nov. 15, 2019, Emilio\u2019s Pizzeria & Ristorante …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[391],"tags":[2476],"yoast_head":"\n