In a lawsuit filed this week, captioned Villalta v. JS Barkats PLLC and Sunny Barkats, 16-cv-2772 (SDNY filed April 13, 2016), plaintiff asserts claims of gender discrimination and quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment against a Manhattan law firm and its owner.
Plaintiff alleges, among other things:
Defendant [Sunny] Barkats exploited Plaintiff, who was nineteen years old at the time, by: forcing her to strip naked, have sexual intercourse with him, and swallow his semen during her job interview in exchange for Defendants offering Plaintiff a position of employment; promising Plaintiff promotions, gifts, and a Manhattan apartment if she continued to be “obedient” and/or acquiesce in his requests for sexual favors; forcing her to have sexual intercourse with him, perform oral sex on him, lick his anus, and swallow his ejaculation during work hours on her first day of employment; and threatening her employment when she refused to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases prior to coming into work the following day. The culmination of these events caused Plaintiff’s constructive termination after her second day of work.
She seeks relief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York City Human Rights Law.