According to a new bomb lawsuit, the popular Hip Gregory coffee chain has been discriminating against black workers and male employees accused of sexual harassment on a daily basis.
Gregory's owner Gregory Samfotis openly shows bias among black women who worked for a trendy brand founded in Manhattan in 2005, and now boasts almost 50 locations nationwide.
Jessica Day began working as a Veep for HR at Gregorys Coffee in 2022, claiming in court documents he has “facing discrimination and blatant violations of the laws related to discrimination.”
The company's owner “not only recognized the conduct, but also tolerated it and often directed it,” her lawsuit says.
Zamfotis did not reply to requests for posting comments.
In 2023, the Big Apple-based business paid its barista between $200,000 and $200 Calm down the class action suit Insisting, the chain refused to pay them overtime.
In a one-day lawsuit, she alleges that Zamfotis once tried to fire a black worker. She is trying to confirm her return from legal leave, claiming she is a “bad” employee.
Day pushed him for an example of worker performance issues, which the female manager added “described her as 'surprising',” but Suit alleges that Zamfotis “didn't think she had a good smile.”
The only black woman in the chain's corporate leadership found that she faced Zamfotis' rage when she took medical leave, the documents allege.
Zamfotis “sticked to her absence,” Day's suit claims.
“Zamfotis even wanted to ensure that she didn't receive compensation during her leave despite her entitled to paid leave,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also detailed a meeting in which Zamfotis allegedly went to “Tirard” about another black female worker.
“He was in the face of meetings and engaged in aggressive caricatures of 'black' behavior,” Suit says.
In another example of shameful attitude, when a female worker in the shop complained about the “hostile” male manager, Zamfotis said on the day he “doesn't do his “investigation of his own” and ordered the woman to be fired, the lawsuit says.
Zamfotis also requested a new employer who is “white, male barista” to pay a salary of $75,000, but the lawsuit alleges that the manager of a black female store “$20,000 less than white male barista Zamfotis.”
Day confronted Zamfotis about his “illegal behavior” in December 2023, calling it a “example of textbooks that are against the law.”
“You're about to get an S. I sued you. [sic]The lawsuit alleges she said it.
After Zamfotis announced the day, she filed her resignation after refusing to communicate with her about her protests, court documents say.
“We recognize that when individuals take legal action against their employers, it requires a considerable amount of rigour and courage,” Day's lawyer Seth Lufkin said in a statement. “Our clients and our company hope that this incident will help not only her claims, but others deal with similar situations.”
Zamfotis started a hipster coffee shop in 2005 and began a “kickstart” from his father, a restaurateur. Greenwichmoms.com.
