Female workers sue McCormick & Schmick’s over lewd behavior

BOSTON » Female kitchen workers at the McCormick & Schmick’s seafood restaurant in downtown Boston were subjected to constant groping and lewd comments from male supervisors and co-workers, and their complaints to the company were routinely ignored, five women said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit highlights the abuse and harassment women in low-wage hospitality positions routinely face, even as allegations of sexual misconduct roil white-collar industries like film, media and politics, said Sophia Hall, an attorney for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, which represents the women.

“These are positions that society often overlooks,” she said. “These women are particularly vulnerable, with limited English and no access to an effective reporting procedure. They suffered daily and in humiliating ways.”

Fabiana Santos, who worked as a prep cook at the restaurant, detailed the lewd comments and unwanted touching she endured from a male dishwasher at a news conference Tuesday.

“The disgusting things that happened to me made me feel dirty,” she said in Portuguese, speaking through a translator. “And when I got home, I didn’t even want my kids to touch me.”

Marta Romero said a sous chef frequently groped and harassed her when she worked there as a dishwasher.

“I want other women to know that whatever type of work they do or who they are, they’re not powerless,” she said in Spanish through an interpreter.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they speak publicly, which all five women have done.

Representatives for the Landry’s Inc., the Houston-based restaurant, casino and hotel operator that owns McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants, Inc., didn’t respond to emails and calls seeking comment.