WATCH: LI Employee Alleges Assault, Discrimination As White Man

BAY SHORE, NY — A restaurant worker at a Bay Shore seafood chain restaurant has filed a sex and race discrimination charge against his former employer, alleging he was discriminated against as the only white male employee.

Donald Cembrale and his attorney, David H. Rosenberg of Melville, filed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge of discrimination this week, the first step toward federal and state lawsuits against Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood & Bar.

Cembrale's filing alleges he was mistreated by the owner and ultimately physically attacked by the franchise owner's wife, and received different treatment due to what he believes was his sex and race.

The restaurant, located in the Westfield South Shore Mall on Sunrise Highway, is owned by Sky Chen-Hoa. Hook & Reel was founded in Maryland in 2013 by Tony Wang and has been rapidly expanding franchises in recent years. The Bay Shore location opened in 2021.

Cembrale claims in his filing that the owners were happy with his work performance since he began working as a bartender in May 2021, even promoting him to operations manager in August.

The charge states that in October, however, "Complainant began to suffer discrimination on account of his status as a white male."

Rosenberg told Patch: "The Asian male owner told my client to go f--- himself in a work group chat. After my client complained, the owner sent his wife, an Asian female, to physically attack my client at the restaurant. After complaining about that, my client was terminated in retaliation."

The incident was captured by Cembrale from security footage. Rosenberg says that the assault didn't lead to criminal charges even though police were called.

Rosenberg and Cembrale plan to request a right-to-sue letter immediately, Rosenberg said.

"My client was doing his job — there was nothing he did to provoke this."

Stephanie Frias is the head of human resources for Hook & Reel who terminated Cembrale's employment in December 2021.

She told Patch, "We haven't been made formally aware of [the EEOC filing] and it is our policy to refrain from commenting on rumors or speculation."

As for whether Cembrale's lawsuits will be able to prove race and sex discrimination, Rosenberg says the "totality of his disparate treatment has to be considered."

"He felt it was because he was a white male."

Cembrale is still looking for another job and hopes the legal action will deter similar treatment of others in the future, Rosenberg said.

"He'd like to see justice. He doesn't want to see this happen again, and we don't believe they should be able to assault people and still work there."