Report: Lunch Lady Lawsuit Says Director Screams, Lawyers Reply: 'That's Not Discrimination'

The man running cafeteria services at New Canaan Public Schools screamed at employees, threw things, and said things to degrade and intimidate employees, a lawsuit against the school district alleges, according to the New Canaanite news website.

But the district’s lawyers say that doesn’t mean he discriminated against women, according to the New Canaanite. Catherine Nietzel, one of the lawyers representing the district in the federal lawsuit, told the news website that food service work is demanding, particularly with concerns about nut allergies, so there are understandable reasons why a stressful work environment might exist in that department. A legal response filed by the district’s attorneys says there’s no proof the alleged hostile work environment was particularly hostile to women or that Gluck treated men any better, according to the report.

The lawsuit filed by a lawyer for Antonia Torascio, 58, a 12-year cafeteria worker for the school district, said Bruce Gluck, the director of food services, abused the 29 women under his supervision, but she never saw that abuse directed at the four men. Statements from several women who work or worked in the department said Gluck sometimes brought them to tears and even caused one employee to get so upset that she urinated on herself.

The school district conducted an internal investigation of complaints against Gluck, and that in March 2014, one of the women who complained about him was interviewed by a school district lawyer, the New Canaanite reported, citing one of the documents filed in federal court.