Newport Creamery Accused of Abuse of Worker With Disabilities in Federal Lawsuit

Newport Creamery Accused of Abuse of Worker With Disabilities in Federal Lawsuit

A West Warwick woman who was a long-time minimum wage worker at Newport Creamery and who had multiple disabilities claims that when a new manager came aboard, he created an abusive work environment. — she says the new manager regularly screamed at her and abused other workers with disabilities.

She has filed a seven-count suit against the company and the manager in Providence District Federal Court.

The woman, Kelli A. Corriea, said that for years her original store manager and her co-workers knew she suffered from traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) and was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.

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She said they treated her fairly when she needed to ask work-related questions. 

Then, a new manager — Joseph Branco, took over at the Coventry location where Corriea worked and that is when everything changed, according to the lawsuit.

Newport Creamery did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Allegations of Violations of Multiple Federal and State Laws

Corriea, in the 23-page lawsuit, is alleging that Newport Creamery and Branco are guilty of violating a range of federal and state laws — including from the American Disabilities Act to the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act.

In her suit, Corriea alleges that “Throughout her employment, both [Newport Creamery] and Corriea’s co-workers were aware that, as a consequence of her disability, Corriea was limited as to the number of hours she could work each week and that she experienced short term memory lapses and other minor issues that occasionally impacted her work.”

Her lawsuit states, “Corriea was hired by Defendants Newport Creamery on or about 2014 and was a loyal, dedicated, and productive employee of company for approximately seven (7) years prior to her constructive discharge.  

During her tenure, she was employed as a dishwasher, porter, and prep cook, who was responsible for cleaning, food preparation, and other miscellaneous tasks including minor landscaping work."

 

Alleged Abuse Began When New Manager Began

But when Branco took over, he made her work late at night alone cleaning the store, according to the suit. 

“A few months after Defendant Branco started at the Coventry location,  Branco fired the regular cleaning service and assigned Corriea to work nights cleaning the restaurant, after everyone else had gone home, including cleaning bathrooms, floors, windows, booths, and the kitchen.

Corriea worked seven (7) days per week, four (4) hours per day, cleaning the restaurant,” claims the suit.

 

Alleged Abuse - Screaming and Pattern of Anti-Disabled Worker

There was a clear pattern of yelling and screaming at workers with disabilities, according to the lawsuit.

“The only other employees that Corriea ever saw Branco yell at the way that he yelled at her were other developmentally or mentally disabled employees. During her employment, there were two or three other mentally disabled employees, none of whom lasted very long because of the way they were treated by Branco,” states the suit.

The lawsuit states, “One example was Zack, a tall young man, who also had an obvious mental disability of which Defendant Branco was well aware, and who was also treated adversely by Branco. Zack did not like being yelled at and did not know how to respond when he was yelled at.

On one occasion, Branco yelled at Zack so aggressively that Zack took off running away from the restaurant out of fear and never came back. Justin, the cook, attempted to run after Zack to calm him down, but Zack ran so fast that Justin could not catch up."

Corriea in the suit alleges example after example of abuse including:

For example: Defendant Branco would order Ms. Corriea to clean the outside areas of the restaurant, but refuse to provide her with a power washer, which she had used many times before, and order her instead to scrub the outside concrete using a deck scrub brush.

This was extremely difficult work that Ms. Corriea was being ordered to do, upon information and belief, to humiliate her and because Defendant Branco believed that he could get away with treating Ms. Corriea in such a deplorable manner because she was disabled.

Defendant Branco also required Ms. Corriea to clean large carpet mats, but refused to provide Ms. Corriea with a vacuum, requiring her to carry multiple heavy mats outside in order to shake the dirt out, a messy, difficult, and ineffective method of cleaning.

On other occasions, Defendant Branco and Regional Manager Leroy ordered Ms. Corriea to mulch and weed the areas outside of the restaurant on days when it was 90 degrees or more Fahrenheit, without giving her any advance warning, and refusing to allow her to change out of her Newport Creamery uniform into shorts, so she would be dressed appropriately for these tasks given the excessively hot conditions.

 

Lawsuit Said Manager Made Anti-Gay Comments

Further, the lawsuit states that Branco made numerous anti-gay comments against Corriea.

“On a few occasions, while Ms. Corriea was busy in the kitchen doing food preparation, Branco asked Corriea offensive and explicit private questions about her sexual orientation, including, “Who’s the man and who’s the woman in a gay relationship?” or words to like effect, and whether she used dildos or strap-ons. Corriea would respond, “Don’t ask me that, you’re gross,” or words to like effect. Branco would laugh at Ms. Corriea when he asked these questions. There were no other openly gay employees working in the Coventry location, so Ms. Corriea was the only employee to whom  Branco asked such questions.”

 

Wage Theft Alleged

The suit also alleges, “Ms. Corriea was not paid for the hours that she worked beyond 28 hours, because Defendant Branco adjusted her time to not show those hours” and “Defendant Branco would also routinely adjust the timeclock to show that Ms. Corriea took a thirty (30) minute lunch break, despite his knowledge that she almost always spent only a few minutes eating while standing before returning to work.”

Corriea's suit was filed by Richard Sinapi. Now, the legal proceedings begin for Corriea.