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Central Park Boathouse Sued For Sexual Harassment Yet Again
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 26, 2012
Modified Sep 26, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 26, 2012
Modified Sep 26, 2012
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Last year, six current and former employees filed a complaint alleging that the Central Park Boathouse was a hotbed of sexual harassment—and it seems not much has changed in that time. Waitress Marie Agnier, 39, has filed another lawsuit claiming the Boathouse restaurant is run like a frat house, lodging many of the same complaints she and the other workers made last year. That included two male waiters who allegedly “announced they were having a ‘contest’ to see who could sleep with [her] first. They even openly bragged about their contest.’ That is certainly not our idea of a fun contest.
Among other things, Agnier claims the restaurant's bookkeeper would withhold her paycheck to try to get sexual favors—he would corner her by the punch-out clock and beg her to kiss him or go to dinner with him before he handed over the check. She also claims that owner Dean Poll would make some questionable verbal choices while making motivational speeches: “People who have sex without love are prostitutes,” Poll allegedly said. “So if you are here working without love, you are working like a prostitute.”
Poll vehemently denied the accusations: “I’m really appalled; this is out of line," he told the Post. “This is an absolutely frivolous lawsuit." Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has previously urged Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to revoke Poll's contract to operate the restaurant to no avail. Maybe Poll just needs to have a visit from Sexual Harassment Panda:
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central park
central park boathouse
manhattan
sexual harassment
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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