The landmark Langer\u2019s Delicatessen and its owner, Norm Langer, are asking a judge to prevent a former server who contends that she was sexually harassed by Langer from distributing or using during discovery two conversations she had with him and a member of human resources, both of which were allegedly secretly recorded.<\/p>\n
Paola Morales also contends in her Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that she was badgered by a co-worker due to her mental health issues. On Friday, Langer\u2019s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Peter Hernandez seeking a protective order regarding the pair of transcribings.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the illegal audio recordings were made without consent and involved a private exchange, their distribution or use in litigation would not only violate privacy rights but also contravene California\u2019s strong public policy against the use of illegally obtained evidence,\u201d according to Langers\u2019 attorneys\u2019 court papers. \u201cPut simply, plaintiff\u2019s clearly illegal activity should not be rewarded by allowing her to circumvent the law by using the audio recordings as a discovery tool, especially where it is indisputable that she cannot use them as evidence at trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
One recording allegedly deals with a private meeting between Morales and Langer regarding her accusations while the other is of a private meeting between the plaintiff and a human resources department.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that these (alleged) illegal audio recordings were obtained by eavesdropping, and procured and produced without the consent of the parties to the recordings, is a clear violation of defendants\u2019 privacy rights,\u201d according to the Langer lawyers\u2019 court papers.<\/p>\n
In a sworn declaration, Langer says he did not consent to Morales\u2019 recording of their conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt no time during any meeting that I attended with plaintiff during, before or after her employment at Langer\u2019s Delicatessen, Inc. did Plaintiff inform me that she was recording our conservations, nor did I see her utilizing a recording device to record our conversation,\u201d Langer says.<\/p>\n
Langer, 81, made news in 2024 when he said he was tired of the crime in the restaurant\u2019s neighborhood, which includes MacArthur Park, and that he might close if conditions were not improved. Langer told the Los Angeles Times in April that he \u201cbacks the city of Los Angeles\u2019 recent work toward combating crime in MacArthur Park\u201d and that although closing Langer\u2019s Deli is still a possibility, he\u2019s \u201cdecided to stick around for a little while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales\u2019 complaint alleges multiple causes of action, including sexual harassment and discrimination, assault, battery, retaliation and infliction of emotional distress.<\/p>\n
A Langer\u2019s representative previously issued a statement regarding the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor more than 75 years, Langer\u2019s Deli has been a cornerstone of the Los Angeles community, built on a legacy of integrity, respect, and service. We remain firmly committed to providing a safe, inclusive and professional workplace for every employee,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWhile we do not litigate in the media, we take this matter seriously and will respond through the appropriate legal channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her lawsuit, Morales says she was hired as a server in October 2022 and that Langer made inappropriate remarks to her throughout her employment at the deli, some with sexual innuendo. After one such statement, Morales, who had previously told Langer his sexual jokes made her very uncomfortable, asked him to stop, the suit states.<\/p>\n
However, Langer repeated the joke and walked away, the suit states.<\/p>\n
Langer often pulled on Morales\u2019 hair and said words to the effect that men would like to pull her hair while being intimate with her, according to the suit, which further states that Langer asked her if she wanted a \u201csugar daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPaola was confused, hurt and anxious as a result of Mr. Langer\u2019s sexual harassment and related conduct,\u201d the suit states.<\/p>\n
After Morales complained about Langer\u2019s alleged behavior, he retaliated by criticizing her and saying she was \u201cbeing emotional\u201d and also said things that embarrassed her in front of customers, the suit states.<\/p>\n
Morales also alleges that restaurant management allowed a co-worker to harass her because of a disability she has related to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after she was physically attacked by a brother-in-law two years earlier. The other employee, also a server, triggered trauma in her when he tripped over her last September and later called her \u201cbipolar,\u201d the suit states.<\/p>\n
When Morales complained to management about the co-worker\u2019s alleged conduct, she was told she \u201cneeded to be the bigger person\u201d and \u201cgrow thicker skin,\u201d the suit states. Morales resigned the same month out of frustration with her work environment and her final pay check was $200 short, the suit states.<\/p>\n
Morales did not get another job until a month and a half later and her time at Langer\u2019s has left her with \u201cdevastating and lasting stress, depression, financial strain, worsened anxiety and distrust in people,\u201d the suit filed June 4 states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The landmark Langer\u2019s Delicatessen and its owner, Norm Langer, are asking a judge to prevent a former server…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":452339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[207585,1582,276,105330,2961,224,5337,46750,207586,8463,172004,50890,11459],"class_list":["post-452338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alleges","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-conversations","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-owner","tag-recorded","tag-restaurant","tag-secretly","tag-suing","tag-woman"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115732792317929577","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}