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Wife Of Guy In Sex Harassment Suit Would Like Topless Photos Back, Plus $1M
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 24, 2009
Modified Jul 24, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 24, 2009
Modified Jul 24, 2009
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Two female assistants to a hedge fund financier are suing for sexual harassment because he made one of them develop topless photos of his wife and, when she delivered the racy pics, allegedly gave her "a perverted smirk" and asked, "You liked them, didn't you?" Danielle Pecile, 26, and Cristina Culicea, 27, filed a joint lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—Culicea says she was harassed when Titan Capital CEO Russell Abrams tasked her to develop a photo of him and his newlywed Sandra in a bathtub.
But now Sandra Abrams has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Culicea and Pecile, claiming that the two essentially tried to blackmail the Abramses by offering to drop the harassment claim in exchange for $2.5 million and a promise to "resolve this matter amicably without the need for a lawsuit and the media coverage that will certainly be generated." That media coverage would presumably lead to the public release of the topless photos, which Pecile was smart enough to copy and save. Fortunately or unfortunately, said photos have yet to surface in the media!
The lawyer for the former employees calls Abrams's lawsuit "outrageous...This is a clear act of retaliation against my clients for both of them having filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint." But Abrams, who is seven months pregnant, says she's been caused severe emotional distress by the harassment charges, and she would really like those photos back. Now it's up to Pecile and Culicea to do the right thing and send these photos to [email protected] so everyone can decide whether Abrams has any reason to be distressed.
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sex
sexual harassment
topless
wife
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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