Kitchen nightmare: Owner of a popular catering company sued after abusing and calling her loyal employees 'whores' and 'dirty Mexicans'

Employees were yelled at and lawsuit states the subject of racial slurs and sexual harassment
After complaining to their boss they were told they only had themselves to blame
Customer reviews online also describe owner as being 'abusive to staff'

PUBLISHED: 10:49 EST, 18 March 2013 | UPDATED: 12:46 EST, 18 March 2013

The restaurant has been running for more than 30 years but it seems it's not just the food that's gone off at one New York eatery.

The atmosphere at Lorenzo & Maria's Kitchen seems to be more renowned for the manner in which the staff are spoken to rather than the grub, according to DNAInfo.

Maria Armendariz who has owned and operated the joint on Manhattan's Upper East Side not only called her workers 'dirty Mexicans' and 'whores' but even allowed her boyfriend to expose himself to them the lawsuit states.

Kitchen nightmare: The food looks delicious but the owner Maria Armendariz throws insults at her staff and sometimes even the customers according to reviews

According to the court filings, the kitchen nightmare began more than a decade ago when the caterers began working for the restaurant.

The now ex-employees, Enriqueta Luna and Inelia Gabriela Ortega, claim they were made to work 14 hour days, six days a week - never once receiving any overtime, all while enduring the abuse of Ms Armendariz and the actions of her lewd boyfriend Nicodemus Pedraza.

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Ms. Luna, 48, stated in the lawsuit that she was racially and sexually harassed by the the owner and her partner.

Ms. Luna said: 'She told me everyday that I was a 'Mexican whore. She told me I was a prostitute. She told me I was an 'ass faced Mexican,' and that I came to the U.S. to rob Americans' money. I never robbed anyone of anything. I didn't come here to rob anyone. It offended me a lot.'

Abused: Workers at this Upper East Side restaurant had to endure 14-hour days without overtime coupled with racial taunts and sexual harassment

The papers claim the Armendariz who is from Uruguay would regularly call her a 'dirty Mexican' saying she was 'an old fat woman with big ass, darker than a donkey.'

Pedraza, the owners boyfriend, is mentioned in the lawsuit as someone who would often drop his pants and expose himself. On one occasion he told Luna to 'get on all fours' so he could have sex with her.

When she refused, the man would insult her calling her 'crazy' and a 'hag'.

Loyal: Enriqueta Luna and Inelia Gabriela Ortega were worked at the restaurant for 12 years before they decided to walk out. They were abused daily by the owner Maris Armendariz in the kitchen and in front of customers

Ms. Ortega who is 57 and from Chile says that she encountered similar behaviour whilst working as a maid for Armendariz.

'She would call me the 'whore of the house.' She said that I was going to rob her — that I came to America to steal,' said Ortega.

She would also be the subject of derogatory racist taunts about her Chilean and Peruvian background as well as have her buttocks pinched by her employer.

Taken notes: The abuse the workers endured is documented in court filings and customer reviews about the restaurant posted online

When the two members of staff complained about the treatment they were receiving, they were told that they only had themselves to blame.

It seems that customers were also very aware of the way in which the loyal workers were treated.

One review on the New York Times restaurant page calls the customer service 'despicable' after they were screamed and yelled at by Armendariz.

Another comment seems to agree with the testimony put forward by Ms Luna and speaks of how 'the owner drives everyone nuts in this small little store - shouting at kitchen staff.'

A final guest seems to take a leaf out of Ms Ortega's and Ms. Luna's book vowing never to step foot inside the place again: 'Nothing would make me shop here again due to the abusive owner, Maria. A real nut case. Screaming nonstop at her staff, in very loud Spanish, who cower in front of her. I asked her to kindly stop screaming, and she cursed me out.

Maria needs to up her medication, or get out of business.New Yorkers should not support this kind of abusive enterprise.'

MailOnline reached out to Maria Armendariz for comment but she was unavailable.

A hearing on the lawsuit is due to take place within the next few months.

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This is really sad and such BS. everyone should ban this dump and alllow them to go out of business. Mexicans are extremly hard workers and just want the best for there family.

- Jim Hall , Portland, United States, 19/3/2013 15:01

Click to rate Rating 5

Leona Helmsley?

- Michael , Izmir, 19/3/2013 11:06

Click to rate Rating 7

kick all the Mexicans out. more jobs and cleaner streets

- barjam , Adelaide, Australia, 19/3/2013 05:56

Click to rate Rating 17

I'm not big on boycotts, but I say, no more business for Lorenzo & Maria's Kitchen. Let this business die.

- Matt Z , L.A., USA, 19/3/2013 05:53

Click to rate Rating 25

Why does she think she can abuse her staff? Bet 10 to 1 she has low self esteem & a horrible complex. Mean ole B!!!

- texas girl , Texas, USA, 19/3/2013 04:48

Click to rate Rating 8

They worked for her for more than a decade? Why? Surely they could have found other jobs in that length of time. She sounds like an utter creep, the boyfriend even more so, but some nasty little lawyer saw a moneymaker here. People should just refuse to work for her or patronize her business, and maybe picket the place. No lawyer deserves to score big just because someone else is a nasty inhuman being.

- mandy110 , eugene, United States, 19/3/2013 02:33

Click to rate Rating 8

Looks like the employer was one of those right wing DM readers.

- Grasshopper Farmer , Sandburrville, 19/3/2013 01:55

Click to rate Rating 6

look at her yelp. they have two year old complaints that she is an awful human being.

- pringles , washington, United States, 18/3/2013 23:55

Click to rate Rating 22

Of course they were illegal! Who on earth stays in a job where they are abused? This country is going to hell in a hand basket! I wonder how little they were being paid.

- TeeNtheWildlife , Chicago USA, 18/3/2013 23:10

Click to rate Rating 7

I think they were illegal. That is why they kept the job even though the owner abused them and that is probably why she thought she could treat them so badly. It is weird to me but people who come from Hispanic countries who are here legally treat the illegals the worst.

- evelyn , NYC, 18/3/2013 22:59

Click to rate Rating 35

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