WASHINGTON — Sparks Steak House, the Midtown site of the legendary hit on mob boss Paul Castellano, is paying $600,000 to settle claims that a male manager sexually harassed nearly two dozen of the restaurant’s male waiters, federal officials said yesterday.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Sparks failed to stop the manager’s abuse of 22 waiters over a nearly eight-year period. In its lawsuit, the agency accused the manager of groping the buttocks of male waiters, making lewd sexual comments to them and attempting to touch their genitals.
“The severe sexual harassment at Sparks ran rampant for too long,” said EEOC lawyer Robert Rose.
The harassment continued even after many of the waiters complained to other managers, the agency said. Some of the victims who spoke up suffered retaliation, being assigned more difficult work or even being suspended.
Steve Cetta, vice president of Sparks, said the steakhouse has not admitted any wrongdoing and decided to settle the case to avoid further legal costs and negative publicity.
In 1985, Castellano and bodyguard Thomas Billotti were shot to death outside the restaurant on orders from John Gotti. The hit cleared the way for Gotti to become head of the Gambino crime family.