A former bartender at a celebrity hangout in the Theater District won a $2.5 million verdict against her ex-boss — who wooed her with cheesy come-ons and then sexually assaulted her when she rejected his advances.
Russian immigrant Tatiana Mironova won the award against chef Pasquale Marino, of Da Marino Ristorante Italiano on West 49th Street, in Manhattan federal court on May 2.
“It’s been really, really painful,” Mironova told The Post Monday. “The whole experience was terrible. It was hell. But it’s over and I’m glad justice was served.”
In her 2013 lawsuit, the married Mironova, 28, says she was instantly turned off by her boss’ corny pickup lines.
Marino, 52, told her “he hated his wife and said, ‘I want other women. I can’t eat a burger every day. Sometimes I want pasta,’ ” the suit said.
Mironova’s attorney, Gordon Kaupp, said her emotional testimony convinced the jurors.
“When they heard her testimony, it looked like they’d all been punched in the guts,” Kaupp said.
Jurors found the chef liable for sexual harassment, sexual assault and fostering a hostile work environment.
Marino’s eatery is a favorite haunt of “Sex and the City” actor Chris Noth, “Saved by the Bell’s” Mario Lopez and the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood.
“You have no rights! You are an immigrant! Nobody will believe you anyway.”
Mironova claimed Marino trapped her in the eatery’s cave-like office in May 2010, fondled her breasts and ejaculated on her back. When she broke free, he warned, “You have no rights! You are an immigrant! Nobody will believe you anyway,” court papers say.
During the trial, Mironova related a second incident in which Marino allegedly asked her to deliver cash to his Plaza apartment.
Marino allegedly shoved the terrified employee to the edge of his 40th-story balcony and threatened to kill her. He then unzipped his pants and forced her to the floor, Mironova said, but she escaped.
Criminal charges were dropped when the Manhattan DA determined she wasn’t credible because she was working while collecting unemployment, attorneys for both sides confirmed to The Post.
Marino told The Post he plans to appeal the verdict.