The penalty imposed by the state attorney general’s office against the former owners and managers of the now-closed Route 9 Diner in Hadley delivers a powerful message that workplace harassment will not be tolerated in this state.
The four men who knew about and sometimes participated in sexual harassment of female employees at the diner — while doing nothing to stop it — were ordered to pay up to $200,000 for failing to abide by state and federal anti-discrimination laws, resulting in “an unbearable and hostile work environment” for more than a decade until the diner abruptly closed a year ago.
The financial penalty is severe and it is significant that not just the owners, but also the managers — Dimitrios Demos and Steven Kwak, who frequently reminded waitresses that they could easily be replaced if they complained — were held responsible for the toxic workplace culture at the diner.
Furthermore, former owners Christopher Karabetsos and Argiris Sideris were ordered to post notice of this consent judgment — their own version of a scarlet letter — and take other steps to ensure a workplace free of discrimination and harassment should they open another food establishment in Massachusetts.
If any of the four men fail to meet the provisions of the settlement, they could be held in contempt of court under the judgment signed March 18 by Judge Mary-Lou Rup. That comes a year after the attorney general’s office filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination describing as early as 2004 “a continuous pattern and practice of sexual harassment of female employees of the diner, routinely subjecting them to mistreatment and humiliation in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws.” According to the complaint, “the female employees were regularly subjected to sexualized commentary, cat-calling and unwanted touching and sexual advances by the cooks at the diner.”
The four men must pay a total of $112,000 over several years, with the remaining $88,000 suspended if they comply with terms of the agreement. Most of the financial settlement will be used to compensate the 10 women who participated in the complaint, describing physical harm, emotional distress and lost tips and wages.
The judgment also ends a related case brought by one of the former waitresses who was represented by the ACLU. Northampton lawyer William Newman, director of the ACLU’s western Massachusetts office, worked with the attorney general’s civil rights division in crafting the settlement which he says “has an important precedential effect, (with) the message this judgment and what happened to this business sends to other businesses that would discriminate on the basis of gender and sexual harassment.”
He added, “Gender discrimination has been prohibited by statute for decades. This sends a loud and clear message that this type of behavior at restaurants and other workplace establishments will not be tolerated.”
The attorney general’s office agrees, saying that the scope of this settlement is unique, at least under current office-holder Maura Healey. A priority for Healey is protecting economic security and equality for women in the workplace, and she pledges to hold accountable other businesses that allow discriminatory practices similar to those at the Route 9 Diner.
Among those who spoke out against the intolerable behavior they encountered was Marie Billiel, who now manages a cafe in Cambridge. “I certainly hope this serves as a deterrent to others who may engage in this behavior, but the fact is that this ‘kitchen culture’ is widely accepted and tolerated,” she said. “What is important to me is that when it does happen, victims of such harassment can see that it is truly not OK and that their reports are meaningful and can have real results.”
Kudos to the attorney general’s office and the ACLU for pursuing this case vigorously. The real heroes, though, as Newman puts it, are the courageous women who spoke out – and whose voices were validated by a judge’s order.