Queens Server Told She Couldn't Handle 'Rowdy' Restaurant Crowds

QUEENS, NY – A Queens woman who was hired as a server at a Forest Hills Restaurant was fired before she could even begin working after the owner said her age and gender prevented her from being able to handle the crowds.

Mara Risa Newman, 51, applied to work as a serve at Dylan's Forest Hills on July 2, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court, the New York Post reported.

According to court paperwork, owner Brian Urbina hired Newman immediately and scheduled her for training. When she arrived for training, Urbina "told her she was 'too old' for the position," the Post reported.

The lawsuit also alleges Urbina told Newman "that as a woman she would not be able to handle the rowdy men at Dylan's in the evening," according to the Post.

"I applied to over 1,000 jobs since March," Newman told the Post. "I was so shocked that I was speechless, because I've never experienced that. Especially during COVID when nothing's beneath anyone. Minimum wage is the same for any age."

Urbina told the Post the allegation are false and that he asked Newman to submit a proposal to start a catering service at the restaurant but she never followed through.