Celeb Chef Sexually Harassed West Village Co-Worker, Lawsuit Says

WEST VILLAGE, NY — The celebrity chef at a Japanese restaurant in the West Village repeatedly harassed one of his female co-workers, doing things like groping her butt and asking for photos of her in a swimsuit, a new lawsuit alleges.

Mayumi Bardiovsky accused chef Abe Hiroki of creating a "sexually hostile work environment" for her at the restaurant, and said she had endured years of sexually aggressive comments and inappropriate touching. Bardiovsky started as a server at EN Japanese Brasserie, the hip West Village restaurant that counts celebrities like Martha Stewart as customers. From there, Bardiovsky says she worked her up to be a server and eventually a manager at the restaurant, located at 435 Hudson St. During this time, Hiroki would repeatedly proposition her and made crude and sexist jokes, she said in the suit, which was filed Monday. (Want more local news? Subscribe here for free breaking news, features and community updates from Patch.)

Hiroki once asked Bardiovsky to touch a vegetable that he said looked like a vibrator in front of other other employees, she alleged in the lawsuit. He would often describe the pornography he enjoyed, and asked her to provide photos of her in a swimsuit, she says. According to the suit, Hiroki often made these comments in Japanese, so they went unnoticed by many coworkers who did not speak Japanese.

In addition, Bardiovsky said the restaurant's executive chef would often touch her inappropriately, on one occasion grabbing her butt and on another "forcibly [hugging] and simulated humping motions while holding her," according to the suit.

The suit, which alleges gender discrimination under New York City's human rights law, also accuses the restaurant's owner Reika Yo for failing to appropriately handle Hiroki's alleged behavior. She is seeking unspecified monetary damages and an end to the alleged behaviors.

Patch was not immediately able to contact anyone at EN Japanese Brasserie. Attorneys for Hiroki and Yo could not immediately be identified.

Lead image credit: Astrid Stawiarz / Stringer / Getty Image Entertainment.