A group of Hispanic grocery store employees who they were strip-searched, threatened with deportation, and later fired after the store manager falsely accused them of stealing a customer’s cash.
“Show me the money! Where is the money?” shouted the furious head of Chestnut Supermarket en South Williamsburgduring the April 5 ordeal, according to a lawsuit.
Three workers were unexpectedly brought into an office one by one, who they were locked up and “reprimanded, insulted, assaulted and beaten” by the supervisor identified as Joel Epsteina defendant in the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The crazed boss claimed he had every single employee on surveillance video of the bathroom where a customer had allegedly left a stack of cash she had obtained from the store’s money-lending business.
Epstein first said $1,400 in cash was lost, after $1,500 had been taken before putting the dollar amount at $1,700, the legal filing says.
When they took the employee Francisca Orduna to the office, Epstein reportedly yelled at her: “Fucking bitch, take off your clothes!”
The woman refused to remove her clothing and began recording Epstein, who pushed her against the wall and grabbed the phone from her hands, according to the lawsuit against the store, Epstein and others, it said. New York Post.
Likewise, to Emanuel Rodríguez Quintana and Luis Domínguez where they were also ordered to remove their clothes so that the bosses could verify if they had the money with themaccording to court documents, which say the three employees who witnessed the event and refused to lie were put behind bars.
The group of Hispanics, who are seeking unspecified damages, were “openly dehumanized”their lawyers said in a statement.
“Can you imagine being treated that way at work?” said attorneys Kristina Mazzochi and Megan Goddard.
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