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A Manhattan jury described the University Club as a hotbed of ‘relentless sexual harassment’ for six young waitresses, who were victimised by their boss. Banquet captain Mel Guzman, 71, sexually handled the women and assigned them shifts depending on how they responded, lawyer Joshua Friedman said in the civil suit's opening argument. “Guzman is between 20 and 45 years older than the plaintiffs, and they worked with his wife at the club, and they were married or in steady relationships. Yet he is going to ask you to believe the plaintiffs desired him so badly that they initiated sexual contact with him. Where? In the elevator,” the New York Post quoted Friedman as saying. “Six women do not schedule rendezvous in freight elevators and ask the man to grope their breasts, buttocks and private parts through their pantyhose. It was a sickening abuse of power that left six women emotionally scarred,” he justified further. Friedman also noted that after some of the grope sessions, Guzman ‘threw a few bills’ at ladies to further degrade them. Meanwhile, the club's lawyer, Janene Marasciullo, said, as soon as one woman, Marilyn Rivas, complained to the general manager, he investigated and suspended Guzman after he ‘admitted he touched some of these women, consensually'.

NY University Club a hotbed of ‘relentless sexual harassment’