New York Athletic Club (Jonathan Baskin)
The staid New York Athletic Club is a real animal house behind the scenes, employees say.
Transcripts of depositions of one current and one former employee paint the tony 144-year-old club — the site of a notorious large-scale brawl between members earlier this year — as a hotbed of sexual harassment, racist remarks and wild behavior in recent years.
In the transcripts, which were obtained by The Post, the men say members and managers would often make racial cracks, including using the N-word, and no action would be taken by the club.
Female employees’ complaints about being sexually harassed would routinely be declared “unfounded” after daylong “investigations,” while club brass turned a blind eye to managers’ drinking and partying during and after events, the employees said.
Many workers didn’t report incidents because they feared they’d be fired or face retaliation, the men said.
There’s “a lot of discrimination with management toward the employees — and club members also, toward employees,” alleged Elvis Lopez, who has worked security at the Central Park South club since 2005.
The depositions were taken as part of former waitress Keisi Ballenilla’s sexual-harassment lawsuit against the club.
In his sworn testimony, Lopez described an incident with one club member who allegedly called a barback in the club’s lounge the N-word. The same member also allegedly used the word when another member brought a black female friend into the club, Lopez said.
Another member would allegedly harass a female coat-check worker, showing her pictures of guys in bikini briefs, the employee said.
Lopez said he’d told the member to cut it out. “I’m a married man. I have a grown daughter. This is really bothering me,” he said.
His reports to human resources about the incidents went nowhere, he said. He said the only time he saw a member booted from the club for disciplinary reasons during his seven years was when one “threatened [another member], saying he was going to kill them,” Lopez said.
Members weren’t the only ones behaving badly. James Bartley, who worked security at the club between 2006 and 2009 and was union shop steward, said banquet managers would get drunk during events.
“All the time. Any big function that goes on there,” Bartley alleged.
Ballenilla’s suit says that, from 2004 to 2009, she was repeatedly harassed by her managers, and one in particular, Nesim Zuberi. Zuberi “and other employees created a hostile work environment by frequently requiring that [she] engage in sexual acts as a condition of receiving work,” the suit claims.
Lopez said Zuberi had a rep for using his power over servers’ shifts to get “favors” from them.
The club had sought a confidentiality order to keep their testimony and other information out of the public domain.
“We are pleased that the court rejected the Athletic Club’s attempt to keep this secret. If there are other victims, this will help them,” said Ballenilla’s lawyer, Joshua Friedman.
A club rep did not return a call for comment. The club has denied any wrongdoing.