It really is the “Wild, Wild West” at Rockefeller Center urban-cowboy bar Johnny Utah’s, a scathing new sexual harassment lawsuit claims.
Eight ex-staffers of the West 51st St. bar filed a class-action lawsuit in Manhattan federal court Tuesday claiming, among other things, that bosses insist female staffers “to take off their shirts” and kiss each other when they ride the mechanical bull.
The complaint claims Johnny Utah’s female servers are “subjected to pervasive and regular unwelcome sexual comments, propositions, and physical contact by male customers” — and that they risk having hours cut or losing their jobs “if they complain.”
“By intentionally using the ramped up sexualization of its female employees … the owners and managers of Johnny Utah’s have knowingly engaged in the discriminatory policies and practices,” the filing alleges.
The suit — which seeks unspecified money damages on behalf of the six female and two male ex-staffers — also accuses the self-described “home to New York City’s original mechanical bull” of cheating workers out of overtime pay and other legal wages.
The plaintiffs include ex-servers, bartenders and “Daisy Dukes girls” who roam Rockefeller Center in short-shorts soliciting hot-blooded men to check the joint out.
Female staffers are “expected to encourage” male clientele “to buy them shots of alcohol during their work shifts, to sit on male customers’ laps, ride a mechanical bull with other female employees and male customers, dance on top of the bar in front of customers and pour shots of alcohol into customers’ mouths,” the suit says.
The suit also claims that Johnny Utah’s bosses urge female staffers “to take off their shirts when they ride the mechanical bull and kiss other female employees when they ride the bull together.”
“During beach theme parties held during the summer, the female servers must wear bikini tops and customers watch as the female servers splash around in plastic baby/toddler pools set up throughout Johnny Utah’s,” the suit says.
The suit also names as defendants owner John Sullivan and managers Thomas Casabona and JR Lozado, all of Manhattan.
It alleges some of the female staffers Johnny Utah hires are under 21 years old and that the honchos also “encouraged” these minors “to drink” booze illegally – and in some cases, even made sexual advances towards them.
Sullivan, the suit says, routinely recruits female staffers for wild parties he throws for friends. Workers who refuse to dance privately or complain about being groped during the parties risk losing their jobs.
When contacted about the suit Tuesday, Casobona said he was unaware of the allegations and declined comment. Messages left for the other defendants were not returned.
The plaintiffs through their lawyer Jeanne Christensen declined comment.