Tweet
"You Got A Fat Ass," Says Benzino to Female Employee In Sexual Harassment Lawsuit File
Yesterday, Raymond "Benzino" Scott and Dave Mays were served a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit by the U.S. District Court Southern District on behalf of former employees Kim Osorio and Michelle Joyce. The documents contain shocking allegations of an environment of rampant sexual impropriety, including vulgar comments, sexual propositions and threats.
The 34 page court documents filed late yesterday against Benzino, Mays and the company. The documents also names several high level executives, including former executive editor Antoine Clark, Alvin Childs and current Editor-In-Chief, Dasun Allah aka DX21, also of the NY's popular "Star and Bucwild Morning Show."
Much of the document provides an extremely unflattering image of rapper and owner Raymond "Benzino" Scott as a vicious dictator. In addition to detailed descriptions of misogynistic behavior on the part of Scott and other male employees toward Osorio and Joyce, the documents include claims that Scott was verbally abusive toward co-owner Mays, sometimes threatening him with physical harm, which resulted in Mays being manipulated to allow Scott more control of the magazine.
Plaintiffs Joyce and Osorio describe a "hostile work environment consisting of sexual harassment including inappropriate touching, sexual propositions, vulgar sexual comments, verbal abuse and threats of physical violence by and/or tolerated and condoned by Mays and Scott." Several incidences are described in which women were sexually propositioned and harassed when they decline advances.
One allegation in particular describes Kim Osorio being sexually propositioned repeatedly during the workday by Scott, who attempted to pressure her to spend a weekend with him in Atlantic City. Despite Osorio's continued rejection of Scott's sexual advances, the documents allege he called her more than 5 times that day in attempt to persuade her to go with him.
Joyce and Osorio were not the only victims of sexual harassment at The Source, the lawsuit says. One occasion details an instance in which Scott subjects an unnamed high ranking female executive to repeated harassment, including demanding lap dances from her . Osorio also claims that Scott requested she proposition the executive on his behalf. Benzino's own secretary was often sent on runs to proposition young interns to come to his office.
While Mays and Scott are the only two defendants in the Title VII lawsuit, Osorio and Joyce list incidences of sexual harassment by other male employees of The Source in their court documentation. For example, Alvin Childs, an associate of Scott and subordinate of Michelle Joyce while she served as Vice President of Marketing, is quoted in the documents for making vulgar remarks like "I'll give you something to suck on," when she was sitting at her desk with a lollipop in her mouth.
Another example of sexual harassment described in the court documents, spoke of the degradation of a female employee in the Accounting department who was harassed by Benzino when he first learned she was an employee. After exiting the elevator she'd shared with Scott, he blurted at her, "You got a fat ass." According to documents in the suit, beginning that day and continuing until the woman finally resigned, Scott made sexual propositions toward this female employee, repeatedly calling her at home and work, despite the young woman's complaining to Human Resources about the incidences.
The environment described in Osorio and Joyce's lawsuit is one where male employees verbally abused female employees, slinging curses and verbal threats. Antoine Clark, who was Executive Editor at the time, told Kim Osorio "I would knock you upside your head," after she asked him about an assignment he failed to turn in.
The lawsuit goes on to detail the work setting at The Source, where male employees were allowed to hang photographs of women wearing g-strings or with their breasts exposed in plain view. The documents even mention the office of Mr. Peeples, General Manager of The Source and high school friend of Benzino, where a large picture of a naked vagina hangs where others could see it .
Without going into every detail described in the court documents in the lawsuit, in addition to a thorough description of the experiences of sexual harassment suffered by Kim Osorio, Michelle Joyce and other women employed by The Source, ample details about gender discrimination at the magazine are also provided. In addition to the Title VII violation, the lawsuit accuses Mays and Scott of retaliation in violation of Title VII, discrimination and harassment in violation of New York State Human Rights Law, retaliation in violation of New York State Human Rights Law , aiding and abetting violations of New York State Human Rights Law, defamation and slander,and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit is asking for an award of damages to be determined at trial to compensate plaintiffs for harm to their professional and personal reputations and loss of their career fulfillment.
Source: sohh.com
The 34 page court documents filed late yesterday against Benzino, Mays and the company. The documents also names several high level executives, including former executive editor Antoine Clark, Alvin Childs and current Editor-In-Chief, Dasun Allah aka DX21, also of the NY's popular "Star and Bucwild Morning Show."
Much of the document provides an extremely unflattering image of rapper and owner Raymond "Benzino" Scott as a vicious dictator. In addition to detailed descriptions of misogynistic behavior on the part of Scott and other male employees toward Osorio and Joyce, the documents include claims that Scott was verbally abusive toward co-owner Mays, sometimes threatening him with physical harm, which resulted in Mays being manipulated to allow Scott more control of the magazine.
Plaintiffs Joyce and Osorio describe a "hostile work environment consisting of sexual harassment including inappropriate touching, sexual propositions, vulgar sexual comments, verbal abuse and threats of physical violence by and/or tolerated and condoned by Mays and Scott." Several incidences are described in which women were sexually propositioned and harassed when they decline advances.
One allegation in particular describes Kim Osorio being sexually propositioned repeatedly during the workday by Scott, who attempted to pressure her to spend a weekend with him in Atlantic City. Despite Osorio's continued rejection of Scott's sexual advances, the documents allege he called her more than 5 times that day in attempt to persuade her to go with him.
Joyce and Osorio were not the only victims of sexual harassment at The Source, the lawsuit says. One occasion details an instance in which Scott subjects an unnamed high ranking female executive to repeated harassment, including demanding lap dances from her . Osorio also claims that Scott requested she proposition the executive on his behalf. Benzino's own secretary was often sent on runs to proposition young interns to come to his office.
While Mays and Scott are the only two defendants in the Title VII lawsuit, Osorio and Joyce list incidences of sexual harassment by other male employees of The Source in their court documentation. For example, Alvin Childs, an associate of Scott and subordinate of Michelle Joyce while she served as Vice President of Marketing, is quoted in the documents for making vulgar remarks like "I'll give you something to suck on," when she was sitting at her desk with a lollipop in her mouth.
Another example of sexual harassment described in the court documents, spoke of the degradation of a female employee in the Accounting department who was harassed by Benzino when he first learned she was an employee. After exiting the elevator she'd shared with Scott, he blurted at her, "You got a fat ass." According to documents in the suit, beginning that day and continuing until the woman finally resigned, Scott made sexual propositions toward this female employee, repeatedly calling her at home and work, despite the young woman's complaining to Human Resources about the incidences.
The environment described in Osorio and Joyce's lawsuit is one where male employees verbally abused female employees, slinging curses and verbal threats. Antoine Clark, who was Executive Editor at the time, told Kim Osorio "I would knock you upside your head," after she asked him about an assignment he failed to turn in.
The lawsuit goes on to detail the work setting at The Source, where male employees were allowed to hang photographs of women wearing g-strings or with their breasts exposed in plain view. The documents even mention the office of Mr. Peeples, General Manager of The Source and high school friend of Benzino, where a large picture of a naked vagina hangs where others could see it .
Without going into every detail described in the court documents in the lawsuit, in addition to a thorough description of the experiences of sexual harassment suffered by Kim Osorio, Michelle Joyce and other women employed by The Source, ample details about gender discrimination at the magazine are also provided. In addition to the Title VII violation, the lawsuit accuses Mays and Scott of retaliation in violation of Title VII, discrimination and harassment in violation of New York State Human Rights Law, retaliation in violation of New York State Human Rights Law , aiding and abetting violations of New York State Human Rights Law, defamation and slander,and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit is asking for an award of damages to be determined at trial to compensate plaintiffs for harm to their professional and personal reputations and loss of their career fulfillment.
Source: sohh.com
Comment