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A lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York on Saturday, March 30, accuses Sand Castle Caterers in Franklin Square of turning a blind eye to abuse and harassment allegedly suffered at the hands of manager Enrique Sanchez.
The victims, who were 15 years old at the time, worked at Sand Castle as waiters from the summer of 2022 to August 2023.
According to the complaint, Sanchez regularly kissed the teens, grabbed their genitals, and inserted his finger into their anuses and made them “smell it.”
He is also accused of verbally taunting them with sexual propositions like “Wanna (expletive)?”, “You wanna put this (expletive) in your mouth?”, and “That (expletive) is fat. I bet it’s tight.”
The lawsuit highlighted one incident in June 2022 in which Sanchez allegedly grabbed a teen’s hand and forced him to touch Sanchez’ penis.
On another occasion, Sanchez allegedly approached the boy and asked, “You want to see it?” before forcing the boy to look at a picture of his erect penis.
“In the months that followed, Defendant Sanchez continued his terrible campaign of unconscionable sexual harassment against fifteen-year-old Plaintiff Minor #1, without any remorse or mercy,” reads the lawsuit.
In March 2023, Sanchez reportedly approached all three victims and asked if they were “sexually active” and asked if they’d ever tried “butt sex.”
“Defendant Sanchez then went on to ‘Guess’ which one of the Plaintiffs would most want to engage in anal intercourse with Defendant Sanchez, and asked in a crude and offensive manner, ‘Who’s gonna let me hit for a raise?’” the complaint alleges.
The teens claim that Sanchez’ sexual abuse was “widely known” by owner Nicholaos Boultadakis and upper management, yet nobody intervened, and Sanchez was never punished.
“Attempts at reporting resulted in Sanchez retaliating with hostility, increased workloads, and threats,” the lawsuit says.
When Boultadakis learned of the teens’ lawsuit in August 2023, he unleashed an “unconscionable campaign of retaliation” against them, according to the complaint.
That retaliation allegedly included repeated phone calls, harassment and threats, and attempting to coerce them into signing “waivers” in exchange for $2,000.
At one point, Boultadakis called an all-employees meeting and forced the boys to identify themselves in front of everyone, the lawsuit claims.
“Defendant Boultadakis then publicly lectured the underage Plaintiffs and claimed they should “Know better” and should have gone directly to Defendant Boultadakis with any complaints before seeking legal action,” reads the complaint.
The lawsuit accuses Sand Castle of sex discrimination, retaliation, civil assault and battery, and aiding and abetting.
“Sand Castle must be held accountable for its clear violations of federal and state anti-discrimination laws, and Sanchez for engaging in sexual assault and battery," said Jitesh Dudani, the teens' lead attorney.
“These boys were brave to speak out despite being scarred and scared.”
In a formal response filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Boultadakis' attorney, John Ryan, denied that the business engaged in any type of discrimination against the teens. He also denied that Sanchez had any managerial authority over them.
“At no time during the period that this alleged sexual misconduct took place did any of the claimants notify, in any manner, any supervisor or manager at SCCI that it was occurring," Ryan said.
“Indeed, once claimants’ attorney notified SCCI of this co-worker’s misconduct, Sanchez was immediately suspended and, within a few days, his employment at SCCI was terminated."
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