PHILADELPHIA – A table busser at a Philadelphia restaurant claims he was threatened and extorted by one of his co-workers, a hostess.
Vincent Ransom-Moore of Philadelphia filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on June 14 versus Concepts By Staib, also of Philadelphia.
In March 2017, Ransom-Moore says he was hired as a busser at Concepts By Staib’s City Tavern Restaurant, and was assisted in doing so on April 26, 2017 by a hostess named Brenda [last name unknown]. At the close of business, Brenda demanded to be paid $15 for providing that assistance in bussing the tables, which the plaintiff refused.
“After the plaintiff refused to pay her, she promised to ‘slap the s—t out of him’ unless he paid her. She also had stated she had ‘n—gas I can call’ in order to assault the plaintiff for refusing to pay her. The incident was witnessed by multiple Concepts By Staib employees, including manager Hafiz Muhammad. Mr. Muhammad made no attempt to stop the alleged harassment as it took place,” the suit states.
“The incident was also witnessed by Leighann Grimley, Abdul Smallwood, Sadee Smallwood, Vincent Shaw, Justin Taylor, Albert [last name unknown] and Emily [last name unknown]. Mr. Shaw recorded the incident on cell phone video. The cell phone footage recorded by Shaw was shown to other Concepts By Staib employees,” the suit adds.
The plaintiff brought the incident to the attention of Thomas Lamb, the general manager of City Tavern, and Lamb asked the plaintiff to describe to him what happened during the incident, the suit says. The plaintiff then gave Lamb his version of the incident, and Lamb followed up by inquiring to the other employees who witnessed the alleged incident as well, the suit says. Both accounts were allegedly identical.
Lamb spoke to Brenda in regards to the alleged incident, and Brenda admitted to him that the incident took place as alleged by the plaintiff, the suit says. The witnesses’ version of the incident was identical to the plaintiff’s version, but at the conclusion of the investigation, Brenda remained employed with Concepts By Staib, the suit says.
“Prior to the incident with the plaintiff, Brenda had a history of misconduct at the workplace. Brenda’s misconduct at the workplace including saying ‘F— you’ to customers and informing co-workers ‘Your man don’t want you because your p— dried up,” the suit said.
For counts of alleged harassment, workplace misconduct and extortion, the plaintiff is seeking exact damages of $50,001.
The plaintiff is not represented by legal counsel in this matter.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 180601597
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com