LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A former employee of a West Hollywood pharmacy is suing the business, alleging she was forced to quit earlier this year after management failed to implement any coronavirus safety measures and mocked her for wearing a mask at work.
Angelica Dayrit also alleges in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that Alex Sirota, owner of Curson Pharmacy, showed sexually explicit videos of gay male sex that offended her as a lesbian. Her lawsuit allegations include sexual orientation discrimination, sexual harassment, both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and wrongful constructive termination.
Dayrit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed Friday. The pharmacy was closed Sunday and no one there could be reached for comment.
Dayrit was hired at Curson Pharmacy in November 2015 as a pharmacy technician and paid $20 an hour, the suit states. After the outbreak of the coronavirus, she found herself working in a confined space in which six feet of social distancing was not viable at the Santa Monica Boulevard business, according to her suit.
She donned a mask every day, but management refused to order everyone to do so, the suit alleges
“Plaintiff was openly mocked and ridiculed for wearing a mask,'' the suit states. “Plaintiff complained about no one wearing masks, but no action was taken.''
Dayrit later found out that Sirota's father exhibited symptoms of COVID-19, the suit states. Although the elderly Sirota was tested, his son did not let the pharmacy employees know the results, according to the suit.
“Defendants put the employees' lives in danger by refusing to enforce the mask mandate and refusing to disclose whether someone tested positive for COVID-19,'' the suit states. “Plaintiff was faced with the ultimate devastating truth: keep working for defendants and possibly die of COVID-19, or quit.''
Dayrit also alleges she was subjected to consistent sexual harassment and discrimination when Sirota discussed his sexual interactions with other men and showed sexually explicit images of men engaging in sexual acts with other males.
He knew this conduct bothered Dayrit, a lesbian who had no interest in men, the suit states. Sirota also referred to females as “just girls'' or “just women,'' implying they were inferior to men, the suit states.
Dayrit suffered extreme emotional distress from her workplace experiences and resigned July 23, the suit states.
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