An executive chef claims she was “groped” and “humped” by a coworker during the US Open — and fired for complaining, according to a lawsuit.
Sillar Baxter, 50, who has catered and cooked for the likes of Sean “P Diddy” Combs, Missy Elliot, Morgan Freeman, and various NBA players, was making sauces for upscale dishes for the luxury suites at Arthur Ashe Stadium when the alleged assault occurred.
“It was disgusting,” Baxter, of Queens, said of the Sept. 5, 2022 incident. “He comes up behind me and he takes his groin and humps my butt. And he’s holding me. Like a bear hug from behind.”
A ‘”stunned” Baxter tried to “wiggle away from him” and “get out of his grip,” she said when he “slapped me on my back where my bra is and was like, ‘Good job!’ I shimmied away and was like, ‘What?’ I said, Don’t touch me! I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do.”
The Harlem native, who was employed by Chicago-based corporate food service Levy Restaurants and assigned to events across the country such as the Open, NASCAR, and college football, worked the rest of her shift in shock, she said.
Baxter complained to her boss the next day, demanding a meeting with human resources before she would return to work, she said in her Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit.
The supervisor, Chef Jonathan Williams, “failed to make a report,” but invited Baxter to attend a meeting with HR at the stadium the following day — Sept. 7 — where she was subsequently fired, Baxter said in court papers.
Baxter’s attorney, Christopher Berlingieri, said his client was fired “without explanation.”
“For this type of behavior to be going on in 2023 is absolutely reprehensible . . . I have been in this business for 25 years. It has basically ruined my career. I have to live with that for the rest of my life,” said Baxter, who also reported the groping to the NYPD.
“I don’t want this to happen to another female,” she said.
She’s seeking unspecified damages against Levy Restaurants Inc., its UK-based parent company Compass Group USA Inc.; Williams; Human Resources VP Carlie McLean, and her unidentified assailant.
“This is a case where the defendants dropped the ball after my client was treated like a piece of meat in the kitchen,” said Berlingieri, adding, “This should not happen anywhere, let alone at the U.S. Open.”
The defendants did not return messages.