A Gregorys Coffee location in New York. “27.WalkToStaples.NYC.31October2022” by Elvert Barnes is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
A former vice president of human resources at the New York City-based specialty coffee chain Gregorys Coffee filed a lawsuit against the company and its founder/CEO, Gregory Zamfotis, alleging workplace hostility and discrimination.
Attorneys Rafkin Esq. of New Jersey, on behalf of plaintiff Jessica Day, filed a complaint with the New York State Supreme Court on March 11, saying Day was “confronted time and again with blatant violations of discrimination and related laws.”
The suit outlines at least seven instances of alleged discrimination in the workplace, primarily negatively affecting Black women. Conversely, the suit makes multiple claims that white, male employees were compensated at unfairly high rates and/or were able to bypass the company’s HR protocols.
“Equally disturbing was the fact that [Gregory Zamfotis] was not only aware of this conduct but condoned and often directed it,” the suit claims.
The son of a New York fast food restaurateur, Gregory Zamfotis founded the eponymous coffee company with a single location in Manhattan in 2006, serving as the face of the brand, which calls its customers “Gregulars.” The coffee company recently expanded into new U.S. markets and opened its 50th store.
Neither Gregorys Coffee nor a PR firm that has recently represented the company replied to DCN’s request for comment on the lawsuit, as of this writing.
According to the suit, Day joined Gregorys Coffee in June of 2022 as vice president of human resources.
The first incident alleged in the complaint says Zamfotis refused to allow a Black female employee to return to work following what the suit says was a “lawful leave of absence.”
“ZAMFOTIS’ reasoning was that she was a ‘bad’ employee, the suit states. “When Plaintiff pushed ZAMFOTIS for actual information demonstrating poor performance, the most he could muster was that he did not think she smiled enough. Yet, an actual store manager that this employee worked under ranked her as a top employee and described her as ‘amazing.’ And indeed, there was not a shred of documentation of any performance issues.”
Another alleged incident accuses Zamfotis of shielding a male employee from consequences from multiple women about the employee’s conduct, which included sexual harassment and discrimination, according to the filing.
Additional accusations include that “Male employees at GREGORYS were paid more than women for the same or even less work” and that “the only black female employee in a corporate leadership position at GREGORYS resigned abruptly due what she described as the overt sexism of the workplace at GREGORYS.”
The suit claims that by mid December of 2023, Day had “repeatedly confronted” Zamfotis about unlawful actions, and went so far as to say, “you’re going to get the sh*t sued out you.”
Citing “substantial distress and anguish by the relentless battle with ZAMFOTIS, his retaliatory conduct and continued legal violations,” the plaintiff is alleging New York state labor violations on three separate counts.
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