State Discrimination Complaint

Charges Sexual Harassment at S.J. Coffee Shop

Persistent Groping, Propositions Alleged by

Half-Dozen Ex-Employees

News Release by AG Rabner and Dir. DCR Vespa-Papaleo

For Further Information:  Lee Moore  609-292-4791

TRENTON - The state Division on Civil Rights has filed a five-count discrimination lawsuit charging the owner of a Camden eatery and coffee shop with sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment and the retaliatory firing of a female employee who reported his alleged conduct.

Filed in New Jersey Superior Court in Camden County, the lawsuit names as defendants both Ronald Ford Jr. and City Coffee, Inc., the restaurant and catering business Ford owns and operates at 529 Market Street in Camden.

The Complaint charges that a hostile work environment prevailed at City Coffee, with Ford allegedly engaged in a "pattern or practice" of subjecting female employees to lewd comments, unwanted touching and repeated requests for sexual favors.

The lawsuit also alleges that, in the case of one employee, Ford engaged in "quid pro quo" sexual harassment by asking her to accompany him to a rear office and discussing the possibility of promoting her to Assistant Manager while making unwanted physical overtures.  The Complaint accuses Ford of terminating the same employee after she reported his alleged harassment, first to other employees, then the Camden police.  The lawsuit also charges that Ford created a work environment so intolerable that numerous female employees were forced to quit their jobs to avoid being harassed.

"The accusations in this case are very troubling," said Division on Civil Rights Director J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo.  "Numerous women who were employed by Mr. Ford at City Coffee allege that they were groped, spoken to inappropriately and propositioned for sex on a regular basis, and lived in fear of termination if they complained about it.  These allegations paint a picture of someone who routinely exploited the employer-employee relationship for his own gratification."

The six employees identified as Ford's accusers in the lawsuit are Amy Gross, Quiana Spratley, Carita Leftridge Courtney Allen, Kareny Aviles and Dedra Broome.  Four of the women -- Gross, Allen, Spratley and Aviles -- allege that Ford routinely touched or rubbed against their buttocks, among other unwanted actions.  Aviles alleges that Ford often had her come to his office alone to receive her paycheck, then subjected her to inappropriate touching, suggestive overtures, and invitations to pose for nude photographs.  Leftridge alleges that Ford asked her to don revealing clothing so he could photograph her in an upstairs studio, and that he touched her inappropriately after following her into a basement storage area.

Broome alleges that, in June 2006, Ford summoned her to a rear office area located behind the City Coffee shop.  According to the Complaint, Ford began discussing promoting Broome to Assistant Manager and, as he spoke, engaged in a number of inappropriate physical overtures including straddling the seated Broome and pulling her arms around him as if to hug him.  Broome alleges that she reported the incident to fellow employees and the Camden Police Department, and that she was terminated the next day.  Other employees identified as Ford's accusers told state investigators they quit City Coffee to avoid further harassment.

The state's lawsuit seeks an order from the court directing Ford to stop subjecting his employees to sexual harassment, and an order that he and City Coffee, Inc. submit to training and monitoring by the Division on Civil Rights for a period of two years.  The suit also seeks compensatory damages on behalf of Ford's six accusers and for "similarly situated female employees and former employees of City Coffee" for emotional distress, mental pain and humiliation.  The suit also seeks punitive damages for the Division on Civil Rights because of the "intentional and willful nature" of Ford's alleged conduct.

City Coffee Complaint (847k pdf)

The Division on Civil Rights is responsible for enforcing the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.  Specifically, the Division investigates allegations of discrimination in employment, housing, places of public accommodation and credit.  The Division has six offices including Atlantic City, Camden, Jersey City, Newark, Trenton and Paterson.  Further information is available on the Division Web site www.NJCivilrights.org .

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