New York Post

Christian V. McOmber, Peter D. Valenzano, and Lauren M. Hill represent Quincidy Boston in a whistleblower retaliation claim against Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. and Chipotle Services, LLC. Named defendants in the lawsuit include Ms. Boston’s supervisors during her employment, Julia Burke, Hilda Quezada, and Anthony Rentas.

The Complaint alleges that Ms. Boston was terminated from her position as an Assistant Manager with Chipotle after objecting to management’s directive to forego necessary and legally required food safety checks throughout her shifts. These checks included the “Chipotle Wellness Check” and food temperature checks to ensure food was being prepared and stored to safety standards. Management also pressured Ms. Boston to fraudulently indicate that such inspections had occurred in the store’s “Black Book,” the store’s FDA required Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points compliance record when they in fact had not. Chipotle’s management even went so far as to forge the Black Book records themselves, writing that legally required inspections had been completed when they had not.

The Complaint also alleges Ms. Boston was instructed by Chipotle’s management to falsify the company’s daily COVID-19 checks. Ms. Boston was told to indicate that employees had no symptoms without actually surveying them to ensure this was accurate.

As further alleged in the Complaint, in April 2022, a customer vomited at the restaurant. Rather than abide by Chipotle’s standard operating procedure to clean the spill, which would require employees to use a spill kit and personal protective equipment, and then leave their shift afterward, Chipotle management instructed an employee to clean the spill without the proper personal protective equipment and then return to the line, preparing and serving food.

Ms. Boston objected to each of these food safety violations, however, her concerns were brushed aside. Fearing that Chipotle’s negligent and reckless approach to food safety would result in a customer or employee falling ill, Ms. Boston requested a demotion from her management position, citing Chipotle’s unlawful and unsafe conduct as the reason. However, as alleged in the Complaint, Chipotle refused to let Ms. Boston take the demotion. When Ms. Boston escalated the issue to Chipotle’s corporate ethics portal, she was terminated.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Union County Superior Court, alleges violations of New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act. Ms. Boston seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

“As alleged in the Complaint, Chipotle shirked its clear duty under New Jersey Law to abide by well-established food safety standards. When our client objected to this conduct and voiced concerns for the health and safety of Chipotle’s customers and employees, she was subjected to retaliation and ultimately terminated. We stand united with our client in exposing this outrageous and unlawful behavior.” Lauren M. Hill, Esq.

Partners Christian V. McOmber and Peter D. Valenzano represent AnnaMarie Ferrara in a sexual harassment and retaliatory termination claim against Healthcare Services Group, Inc. and HCSG East, LLC. Also named as an individual Defendant in the lawsuit is Howard Lawton, a Dietary Supervisor for HCSG East and Ms. Ferrara’s supervisor during her employment.

The complaint alleges that Ms. Ferrara was subjected to constant sexual harassment during her brief time working as a chef for HCSG East, and the factual assertions set forth herein are a summary of the allegations set forth in the complaint.  Specifically, starting on the day he offered Ms. Ferrara a job, Mr. Lawton attempted to force Ms. Ferrara into participating in his sadomasochistic fantasies. Mr. Lawton constantly told Ms. Ferrara he wanted to be her “slave,” referred to her as his “master,” and asked her what she wanted to do to him sexually. Further, Mr. Lawton forced Ms. Ferrara to watch as he searched for various fetish and sex toys on his office computer, telling her he would order items for her branded with the word “MASTER.” Further, Mr. Lawton asked Ms. Ferrara to change into her work uniform in his office so he could watch her undress.

Ms. Ferrara understandably recoiled from Mr. Lawton’s grotesque sexual harassment and made it clear she had no interest in reciprocating and wanted him to stop.   In response, Mr. Lawton’s predatory conduct only grew worse, as he started stalking Ms. Ferrara throughout the company’s offices during her breaks, forcing Ms. Ferrara to hide in the kitchen to eat her meals. Mr. Lawton did not restrict his sexual harassment to work hours, either. Mr. Lawton sent Ms. Ferrara explicit text messages at all hours, displaying his genitals and continuing to describe his fantasies of Ms. Ferrara as his sexual “master.” Even after Ms. Ferrara demanded that he stop texting her and advised him that she feared her granddaughter could stumble across his nude photos on her phone, Mr. Lawton refused to cease his perverted behavior.

Lawton’s threatening behavior reached its apex following Ms. Ferrara’s second day of work. In response to Mr. Lawton’s constant badgering about wanting to spend time with Ms. Ferrara outside of work, Ms. Ferrara mentioned that she was taking her granddaughter to a nearby park on the Delaware River later that day and did not wish to meet with him outside work. The next day, Mr. Lawton told Ms. Ferrara that he went to the park and waited for her for an hour and a half. In other words, Mr. Lawton stalked Ms. Ferrara and her young granddaughter. Fortunately, Ms. Ferrara changed her plans and never brought her granddaughter to the park, sparing them both further harassment. However, when Ms. Ferrara told Mr. Lawton his behavior was disturbing and again demanded that he stop, Mr. Lawton simply smiled and said, “you like it, you love it.”

After only three days of work, Ms. Ferrara was forced to call out of work due to her reasonable fear of Mr. Lawton.  In response, Mr. Lawton immediately terminated Ms. Ferrara. Making matters worse, Healthcare Services Group, Inc. and HCSG East, LLC did nothing to stop the harassment, fix the hostile work environment, and or punish Mr. Lawton, despite being well aware of what Mr. Lawton was doing. Supervisors for Ms. Ferrara’s employers overheard Mr. Lawton sexually harassing Ms. Ferrara in his office and often observed Mr. Lawton stalking Ms. Ferrara around the company grounds as Ms. Ferrara hid in the kitchen, yet nobody took any action to protect Ms. Ferrara or confront Mr. Lawton. In this way, Ms. Ferrara’s employers maintained and encouraged a dangerously hostile work environment in which female employees like Ms. Ferrara were treated as sexual prey for male supervisors like Mr. Lawton.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Mercer County Superior Court, alleges violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, including sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, and retaliation. Ms. Ferrara seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

“As alleged in the Complaint, HCSG East operated a workplace where a deeply disturbed supervisor was allowed to openly treat Ms. Ferrara as a sexual object for his own enjoyment and pursuit. When our client objected and refused to subject herself – or her young granddaughter – to this predatory conduct, she was immediately terminated in retaliation.  We stand united with our client in exposing this outrageous and unlawful behavior.”  Peter D. Valenzano, Esq., McOmber McOmber & Luber, P.C.

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Partners Christian V. McOmber and Peter D. Valenzano represent Priya Gupta in a sexual harassment and discrimination claim against the Township of Franklin, New Jersey, and the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department. Named defendants in the lawsuit also include Raymond Read, the Fire Chief and EMS Director for Franklin Township; Jan Verkade, the Deputy Fire Chief; and Vincent Fortunato, a Lieutenant with the Fire Department.

In addition to his constant sexual harassment of Ms. Gupta and other women, Chief Read also made numerous racially discriminatory comments to Ms. Gupta. Chief Read openly praised white supremacist groups such as the Klu Klux Klan, which he characterized as a “charity organization,” used the “N-word” to describe African Americans, and told Ms. Gupta’s co-workers he “didn’t want to smell like curry” as a result of being with Ms. Gupta, who is of Indian descent.

Instead of stopping the harassment, fixing the hostile work environment, and punishing those responsible, Franklin Township and the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department knowingly encouraged it and allowed it to continue indefinitely. Even when Ms. Gupta complained to Deputy Chief Read about the harassment and hostile work environment in the hope that her concerns would be addressed, Deputy Chief Read merely acknowledged that her complaints were “a long time coming” but refused to investigate or take any other action in response.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Warren County Superior Court, alleges violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, including sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, and discrimination based on race and gender. Ms. Gupta seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

“As alleged in the Complaint, Defendants operated a firehouse where its deeply disturbed leadership promoted a culture rife with misogyny and bigotry.  Ms. Gupta fell victim to this to egregious sexual harassment and discrimination – much of which occurred while she was still a minor.  We stand shoulder to shoulder with our client in exposing this outrageous and unlawful behavior.”  Peter D. Valenzano, Esq., McOmber McOmber & Luber, P.C.

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