NYC Mayor Adams’ pal Robert Petrosyants named in sexual harassment lawsuit

One of Mayor Adams’ controversial cronies, Robert Petrosyants, is named in a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, workplace retaliation and gender discrimination at a Brooklyn restaurant.

Petrosyants is one of several defendants named in the complaint, which was filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Jan. 12 by Topacio Diaz, a former employee at a restaurant identified in court records as being owned by Petrosyants.

In the lawsuit, Diaz alleges that while working at Las Santas, the restaurant’s head chef, Adrian Ramirez, kissed her on the lips without her consent on August 14, 2022. Petrosyants is accused of failing to properly respond to the alleged harassment.

In the days that followed, Diaz claims in her lawsuit that she was subjected to a “campaign of harassment and retaliation” from Ramirez and that management failed to adequately address the situation.

Petrosyants and his twin brother, Johnny, have been a flashpoint for Mayor Adams since the beginning of his administration last year.

In 2014, the two pleaded guilty in connection to a medical billing scheme involving no-fault insurance claims. Robert was sentenced to six months in federal prison and Johnny got probation. Despite that, Adams has maintained ties with both men and has defended his friendships.

When informed about Robert Petrosyants’ most recent legal troubles, a spokesman for Adams declined to comment on the matter.

Diaz’s complaint states that her manager, Junayed Ruhin, discouraged her from elevating her concerns to human resources, and that when he did give her contact information for someone in HR, he told her she “would never get a response.”

“Then Defendant Petrosyants, the owner, arrived,” her lawsuit states.

It goes on to claim that after Diaz explained the situation to Petrosyants, he “did not allow” her to return to work at Las Santas, where the alleged harassment took place.

Instead, she claims that Petrosyants offered her a job at Osteria La Baia, one of Adams’ haunts, but that when she reported to work there, she learned she didn’t actually have a spot waiting for her. Instead, she said she was being “offered the opportunity to apply for a job there.”

Her lawsuit also claims that Las Santas “never provided” sexual harassment training to employees, as required by state law.

Las Santas, Ruhin and Ramirez are all named as defendants in Diaz’s lawsuit.

Petrosyants and Ruhin did not respond to messages.

When contacted at Las Santas, Ramirez said he had “no idea” about the lawsuit against him.

“I know what happened, but I have no idea how even to act on this thing. I’ve never been put in this position in my life,” he said. “I just don’t feel good to talk about it.”

Diaz’s attorney Paul Grosswald declined to comment on the case itself, but said it illustrates a broader problem when it comes to sexual harassment in general.

“I can tell you that the problem of sexual harassment remains rampant in New York,” he said. “The state and city have recently passed new laws to enhance worker protections, yet many employers still fail to create a written anti-harassment policy, or provide their employees with sexual harassment training, as the law requires. The profusion of lawsuits that have been filed in recent years is a warning to all employers — take sexual harassment seriously, or you will pay.”

According to her lawsuit, Diaz also worked at another restaurant owned by Petrosyants, Imani Caribbean Kitchen and Bar, before she worked at Las Santas. The two spots are within walking distance of each other in downtown Brooklyn.

Diaz claims in court papers that Ramirez made false accusations that she had stolen from Imani and had been written up there five times, and that she has been unable to obtain unemployment benefits because Imani “falsely told the unemployment office” that she never worked there.