An employee worked at two franchises owned by the same person in Suffolk County.  She retained Employment Attorney Raymond Nardo to litigate her claim of sexual harassment. 

She filed a charge of discrimination at the New York State Division of Human Rights ("NYSDHR").  The investigator found probable cause that discrimination occurred and set the matter down for a hearing.  The Administrative Law Judge received testimony and evidence.  All witnesses were subject to direct and cross-examination.  After a lengthy litigation, the ALJ and the Commission awarded the employee $27,359 in backpay and $15,000 in compensatory damages because she was "unlawfully discriminated against . . . on the basis of sex, race, color and national origin by subjecting her to a hostile work environment."  The Commissioner found the employer "and other co-workers subjected Complainant to an offensive, sexually charged work environment that was degrading to women." The workplace included "degrading, sexually explicit drawings [which] depicted male genitalia, sexual acts, and vulgar expressions," and a boss who "spoke openly about his sex life at work, made sexually explicit comments about women in Complainant's presence, and showed pornographic videos to Complainant on his cell phone."