Suit Alleges Restaurant Owner Assaulted Gay Employee, Hurled Homophobic Slurs
The owner of a Long Island pizzeria allegedly assaulted an employee, Michael Abenante, for wearing the wrong shoes to work in front of the restaurant's staff. According to the New York Post, he slugged "him so hard, a tooth flew from his mouth as he barked, "F—king faggot, I'll murder you!," according to a new federal lawsuit.
Emilio Branchinelli, the owner of the small restaurant chain Emilio's Pizzeria & Ristorante, told Abenante to buy a new pair of shoes on his break or "find another f—king job," wrote attorney John Luke Jr. in the complaint.
When he returned with a new pair, Branchinelli told him they were not the right shoes. "You look like a f—king homo mountain climber, are you f—king stupid?" his boss allegedly admonished him according to the Post. "You and your c—t mother both should've died when she pushed you out!"
"The disturbing tirade continued as Branchinelli chased the waiter from the restaurant, allegedly kicking him in the lower back and punching him in the face so hard, he spat out a tooth, the complaint alleges. 'F—king faggot, I'll murder you,' Branchinelli allegedly seethed during the beating," reads the Post.
After the assault Abenante never returned to the restaurant, and further contends that during his employment at Emilio's, he encountered numerous instances of anti-gay rhetoric. "The kitchen staff allegedly called him 'culero' — a Spanish slur for a homosexual — and whistled at him, blew him kisses and slapped his behind, the complaint attests.
The suit's other plaintiff, Sabrina Kozminsky, who worked as a waitress at the pizzeria, allegedly suffered sexual harassment and groping from the establishment's kitchen workers — the same crew that Abenante claims also subjected him to anti-LGBTQ slurs and abusive touching.
The suit alleges that Abenante, who worked at the pizzeria for about two years, was subjected to harassment and anti-LGBTQ abuse for virtually his entire stint at the restaurant. The Post reported that his complaints about the abuse from the staff led to no action being taken. Kozminsky, who was hired in 2019, had taken complaints about sexual harassment to the owner's daughter, Lena Branchinelli, who also works at the restaurant, but, the Post reported, "the harassment escalated."