NYC Sweetgreen employees file discrimination, sexual harassment lawsuit

Sweetgreen lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Ten Sweetgreen employees filed a lawsuit against Sweetgreen and supervisors Donald Izquierdo and Edwin Ventura. 
• Why: The Sweetgreen employees allege that Sweetgreen and its leadership discriminated against the employees on the basis of race and sex and created a hostile work environment.
• Where: The Sweetgreen discrimination lawsuit was filed in Bronx County court in New York.

Ten employees filed a lawsuit against Sweetgreen and leaders Donald Izquierdo and Edwin Ventura, claiming that the company discriminates on the basis of race and sex and created a hostile work environment while also engaging in sexual harassment.

The plaintiffs also allege that the Sweetgreen leaders made racist and sexual comments to both fellow employees and customers, the Sweetgreen lawsuit claims.

“Ventura would disqualify Black job applicants based on subjective objections,” the Sweetgreen discrimination lawsuit claims. “For example, he would reject a Black female applicant saying, ‘She looks like she has an attitude problem.’ Ventura did not say that any non-Black applicants looked like they had attitude problems.”

The plaintiffs are Kiana Alvarado, Liana Arias, Shakierra Griffin, Oscar Rivera, Minaya Rivera, Jennifer Henry, Bilal McClure, Shanta Stevens, Jade Williams and Lashay Fuller.

Sweetgreen violated New York’s minimum wage labor law,. along with aiding, abetting and inciting, according to the Sweetgreen discrimination lawsuit. The company also discriminates based on gender and race in violation of New York law, the lawsuit claims.

Sweetgreen leadership allegedly would touch female employees, promote unworthy candidates

Ventura is accused of touching female employees and making inappropriate comments toward them. 

“He had a penchant for loudly calling to the attention of everyone within earshot any female employee or customer who moved in a way that he felt accentuated her buttocks or breasts,” the Sweetgreen discrimination lawsuit claims.

Ventura is also accused of promoting two employees who showed “unreliability” and would repeatedly use the “n-word” instead of promoting a female employee to the desired position, the lawsuit claims.

Sweetgreen was part of a 2017 class action lawsuit challenging its policies of requiring workers to use their fingerprints as part of a biometric system to track their work hours.

Do you shop at Sweetgreen? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Avi Mermelstein and Steven Arenson of Arenson, Dittmar and Karban.

The Sweetgreen discrimination lawsuit is Alvarado, et al. v. Sweetgreen Inc., et al., Case No. 804089/2023E, in the Bronx County Supreme Court of New York.

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