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National burger chain BurgerFi sued over sexual harassment claims

Explosive allegations of sexual harassment tonight against a national burger chain, right as the 'Me Too Movement' was gaining steam.

Explosive allegations of sexual harassment tonight against a national burger chain, right as the ‘Me Too Movement’ was gaining steam.

But this one is different from many we've heard. It's from a male employee, with some very sordid accusations against the management who he claims did nothing about it.

When I read the lawsuit as repugnant as the allegations were, what struck me, is that they were allegedly happening just as all those Hollywood stories began surfacing, and many powerful men were being taken down. But according to the accusers, that’s not what happened at a local BurgerFi.

"Immediately after I reported it, that's when the real fear started. I was scared I would lose my job. I was scared my employees would suffer."

To Robert Crockett, life at the BurgerFi in Mentor, was nothing short of hell.

"Unwelcomed words, touching, basically to the point of assault,’ he said.

For the past five months he's worked as a General Manager for the national fast food chain.

And despite its family friendly image, every day, he says he never knew what he'd walk into.

He told me, "As time progressed, the comments were a little more vulgar, a little more in detail."

What's so unusual about this case though is Crockett is gay. Yet five "female" employees, including two teenagers, were also sexually harassed, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

BurgerFi Lawsuit by WKYC.com on Scribd

It accuses a regional manager, Michael Scimonelli, and the BurgerFi corporation of everything from assault and battery to aiding and abetting a hostile work environment.

Because when Crockett complained, he told me he was basically ignored by everyone.

"What I thought during all this, and falling on deaf ears, is scream louder, fight harder," he said.

In fact he claims, the only person who called him back, didn't believe him, saying "Not Michael. Michael was a great guy. Michael would never do this."

But Scimonelli, who appeared last December on Live on Lakeside, promoting the burger chain, doesn't exactly have a squeaky clean image.

Last year in Florida, he was arrested and charged with choking a pregnant woman. He was ordered to stay away from her, but the charges were later dropped.

No one answered the door at his home when we went to ask him about the suit.

But the company sent a statement, which says in part, “as soon as we learned of the allegations, we conducted an investigation. Mr. Scimonelli is no longer with BurgerFi.”

BurgerFi prides itself on operating restaurant workplaces free from harassment, discrimination and abuse of any kind. We do not tolerate improper conduct or behavior. We have a complaint and investigation procedure in place. We learned for the first time on February 1, 2018 in an email from plaintiffs' lawyer that his clients alleged that two managers had engaged in improper conduct in 2017. As soon as we learned of the allegations, we conducted an investigation. BurgerFi has taken prompt remedial action and Mr. Scimonelli is no longer with BurgerFi. The defendants unequivocally deny any wrongdoing and intend to vigorously defend the case. We look forward to its resolution in a court of law.

The attorney for the employees claims the company knew of the problems before Mr. Scimonelli was fired, yet he was allowed to keep working until shortly after the lawsuit was filed.

The lawyer for the group issued the following statement:

Thank you for sending me a copy of BurgerFi's statement. As I have stated, while I do see the public interest surrounding this case, I do not want to litigate the matter in the press. Nonetheless, this is the second time that BurgerFi has publicly represented that they first learned of Mr. Scimonelli’s deplorable and illegal conduct on February 1, 2018. That is simply not accurate.

Please reference paragraphs 48-51 of our complaint. In addition to the fact that Mr. Crockett reported the conduct well in advance of February 1, paragraph 50 references an email complaint concerning Mr. Scimonelli dated January 18, 2018. I learned of the existence of the January 18 email complaint from counsel representing BurgerFi, Ms. Rodriguez. I was advised that the complaint was sent under the name Jen Holder. Ms. Rodriguez promised to send me a copy of the email, but despite repeated requests, she has refused to do so. Nonetheless, based upon nothing more than the statement of BurgerFi’s counsel, BurgerFi knew of Mr. Scimonelli’s conduct, at the latest, on January 18, 2018 and did absolutely nothing about it until February 1, 2018.

The action taken by BurgerFi on February 1, 2018 was forced by our office; it was certainly not voluntary. In fact, I sent the attached email to BurgerFi on January 30, 2018, detailing Mr. Scimonelli’s conduct. my letter was ignored. Mr. Scimonelli was at work without any restriction or punishment the very next day, January 30, 2018. I was forced to follow up on February 1, 2018 with a demand that BurgerFi immediately suspend Mr. Scimonelli . Only then, after hiring outside counsel, was Mr. Scimonelli was removed from the work place.

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