Elmhurst Foodtown Settles Sexual Harassment Suit For $285K

ELMHURST, QUEENS — Two Foodtown workers who claim they were fired for reporting sexual harassment by a supervisor have settled with the Elmhurst supermarket for $285,000, court records show.

The Queens women, who worked as meat wrappers in the Foodtown's basement from 2014 to 2016, say their supervisor repeatedly groped them and made unwanted sexual advances, then retaliated against them for rejecting him and reporting his behavior.

The women accused Foodtown's owners of sexual harassment and discrimination for failing to investigate their claims and hold the supervisor accountable and for retaliation, according to a 2018 lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July ordered the Foodtown to start anti-discrimination training for all its workers that covers acceptable workplace behavior and how to report sexual harassment and discrimination.

The supermarket, located at 82-10 Baxter Ave., will also have to report to the EEOC all complaints of discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation for the next three years.

"Many employees, especially low-wage and immigrant workers, fear reporting sexual harassment," EEOC New York Regional Attorney Jeffrey Burstein said in a statement. "It took great courage for these women to come forward and participate in this case."

A lawyer for Nasri Abed and Mofeed Said, who own the Baxter Avenue Foodtown, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

One of the women said that, after she rejected her supervisor's advances, he said "'she would be his, whether she liked it or not'" and he "ordered her to work faster and threatened that he could fire her," according to the complaint.

She also started having dreams he would stab her with the butcher's knife he used at work, the court records say.

When she reported the behavior to a store manager, he said he couldn't do anything and would speak to the supermarket owners.

The women will get $95,000 each in damages and their lawyers will get the remaining $95,000, the settlement says.