veboten
Verboten (photo via @shooah)

owners of Williamsburg club Verboten being sued for sexual harassment

Williamsburg club Verboten owners Jen Schiffer and husband John Perez , who were accused of fraud and mismanagement earlier this year, are back in the news. Sixteen former and current employees are suing Schiffer an Perez for sexual harassment. From Gothamist:

According to a lawsuit filed by fourteen employees in Eastern District Court, Schiffer and husband John Perez “run Verboten with a complete disregard for the law and have committed a staggering number of unlawful acts against their employees.” Schiffer is accused of “regularly and openly” discussing her sex life and preferred sexual positions, telling one employee that she wanted to start “fucking men with strap on dildos more often” and repeatedly told her employees about her sexual conquests with female customers at the club.

Schiffer’s boyfriend, employee Dylan Schwartz, 24, allegedly sexually harassed employees as well, telling them things like, “I am a master at eating pussy,” “My dick can stay hard for a long time,” and “Are you having a bad day? You should let me fuck you.” He also allegedly smacked one female employee on the buttocks. Schiffer did not stop Schwartz but “became jealous at the unwanted attention Mr. Schwartz paid to them, blamed the women who were being harassed and retaliated against them,” according to the suit.

“She said ‘I know, I know, I’m trying my best to keep a lid on that,’” employee Steven Suchowieski told the Daily News. “Instead, she then targeted those employees, those girls. She basically was jealous of them.”

The suit also alleges discrimination at the club. From The New York Daily News:

But the suit also charges that Schiffer became furious when an employee, Darrin Morda, booked a party attended by black patrons.

“What are all these black people doing here? You cannot book a black-people party!” she allegedly said.

Morda told The News that Schiffer yelled at him in front of customers.

“(She said) she had promised the police there wouldn’t be black people at this club, and I put the entire club in jeopardy by doing it,” Morda recalled.

Schiffer has refuted the allegations, telling The Daily News, “This is disgusting. This is not true. I’m a woman trying to run a nightclub with her husband. This personal abuse and attack is disgusting.”