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3 ex-hostesses sue restaurateur Pappas
By KATHERINE GAZELLA
© St. Petersburg Times,
Karen Miller, Diane Mead and Claudene Ruhrer contend in a lawsuit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court that Louis Pappas created a hostile work environment and that his behavior led them to quit their jobs. "It was a very sexually charged atmosphere," said Miller, a Holiday resident who worked at the restaurant from 1997 to 2000. "If it wasn't a physical thing every day, it was a verbal thing." The women are suing Pappas, 45, and the restaurant for more than $15,000 in damages, alleging sexual harassment, battery, invasion of privacy, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. Pappas referred questions to his attorney, George Tragos. Tragos said his client denies all the allegations. "It's just an attempt by disgruntled employees to get us to settle," Tragos said. "He has hundreds of employees. It's inconceivable that he could act one way with three employees and completely differently with hundreds of others." The lawsuit contends that Pappas asked Miller, 37, who was then known as Karen Comninel, to perform oral sex and sat in his office naked when she brought him coffee. Mead, 46, said in the lawsuit that Pappas asked her whether she had ever had sex with a woman and made explicit comments to her. He lifted her shirt, touched her groin area and tried to pull her onto his lap, according to the lawsuit. Ruhrer, 49, said Pappas described sexual acts and pulled her onto his lap, according to the lawsuit. The three women said they were each on an elevator alone with Pappas when he jammed the elevator between floors. Each woman said he touched her breasts and buttocks while they were trapped on the elevator. "It's hard to believe that a reasonable person would not find it offensive," said Joan M. Vecchioli, a Clearwater attorney who is representing the three women. She said the women felt they had to quit their jobs, and they are seeking back pay, benefits and unspecified monetary damages. Miller said it was difficult to leave her job last year. At the time, she was a single mother of two children. She has since gotten married and found another job in a restaurant. "I made a good living there," she said. But, she said, "it was very hostile." Mead, who lives in New Port Richey, worked as a head hostess at the restaurant from 1995 to 2000. She no longer works in the restaurant industry and earns significantly less money, she said. "It was just so unbearable, I couldn't do it anymore," she said. "I was feeling physically sick." Ruhrer worked at the restaurant as a server and hostess from 1993 to 2000. She now lives in Sioux City, Iowa, and could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Miller, Mead and Ruhrer also have filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Those complaints are still pending. The restaurant, at the entrance to the Sponge Docks, is an institution in Tarpon Springs. It opened at its current location in 1975, and it is a popular place for business lunches and anniversary dinners. Pappas bought out his cousin's share of the business and became sole owner a few years ago. Three years ago, the restaurant went through a $500,000 make-over. A previous incarnation of the restaurant was opened by the Pappas family near the docks in 1925. The family also opened restaurants in St. Petersburg and Tampa, which have since closed. - Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
