BOSTON (WHDH) — The owners of the Seaport restaurant Strega were ordered to pay $20,000 in damages to a former employee who said her supervisor sexually harassed her.
Luvina Hernandez, 25, worked in Strega’s kitchen back in 2013, making dessert plates. She said her supervisor harassed her at work every day.
Hernandez, speaking through her attorney because she only speaks Spanish, said the general manager would ask her to massage him and would ask her inapprorpriate questions, like if she was a virgin.
“I felt very dperessed, very upset, very emotional about what happened to me,” said Hernandez. She said when she reported him to her manager, her manager laughed at her.
Hernandez was fired after four months and she took the case to the Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice. In September 2017, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination said Strega is liable for the harassment.
Strega was ordered to pay $20,000 to Rodriguez and pay damages to take steps to prevent harassment from happening. The Varano Group, which owns and operates Strega, said they plan to appeal.
“We take all claims of sexual harassment or any type of discrimination seriously,” said the Varano Group in a statement.
Hernandez said she was inspired to talk when she saw other women come forward with allegations at their restaurant, McCormick and Schmick’s at Quincy Market.
“If other woman are courageous enough to speak publicly about this, I should also be courageous and share my own story so women know that justice can happen for you,” said Hernandez.
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