Mark Birnbaum's Meatpacking District nightclubs are hotspots (hey, the Situation celebrated his birthday at one last year), but now four female bartenders are saying they were also uncomfortable places to work at because of him. The women have sued Birnbaum, claiming he came onto them and said things like, "Do you think about me when you masturbate? I think about you."
The suit, which calls him a "sexual predator," says, "Birnbaum made unwelcome sexual advances, requested sexual favors, and engaged in inappropriate and illegal verbal and physical conduct of a sexual nature with plaintiffs, all of whom are young female employees at the lounges. Indeed, defendant Birnbaum's conduct was so egregious that it amounted to sexual assault and battery." The suit also details incidents starting in 2009 (inviting a female employee to his home for an after-party...only for her to discover she was the only one there) through last month—the Daily News reports that on April 29, Birnbaum "allegedly lured two women into a stairwell away from security cameras and molested them."
Birnbaum's lawyer says, "We categorically deny all the allegations; all these individuals are still currently working for the company and have been for years," but the women's lawyer, Eric Baum, says they are only still working at the clubs because they need the money. If Baum's name is familiar, it's because he's representing the two women who accuse American Apparel owner Dov Charney for harassment.
