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Business & Tech

O'Hara's Sued By Former Employee

A former employee of the Westwood Village bar is suing the owners, alleging wrongful termination, retaliation, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

A former employee at a Westwood sports bar has sued her former employer, alleging her work hours were reduced and that she was eventually fired for complaining about having to wear skimpy uniforms and rate the attractiveness of female customers.

Courtney Scaramella filed her suit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against , located at 1000 Gayley Ave. She also names co-owner Jack Bendetti and general manager Robert "Ram" McDonnel. The suit allegations include wrongful termination, retaliation, sexual harassment and gender discrimination. She is asking for unspecified damages.

A representative for O'Hara's could not be immediately reached.

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According to the suit, Scaramella began work at O'Hara's in August 2007 as a server and bartender. Last October, in order to boost profits Bendetti changed female employee uniforms from pants and shirts to "school-girl skirts, which were very short, plaid skirts that fastened to the waist only by Velcro," the suit stated. Scaramella worried that drunken patrons could easily pull off her skirt as she served drinks and food, according to the complaint. When Scaramella demonstrated to a female co-worker how embarrassing it would be to bend down to take bottles from a cooler, McDonnel said, "Oh, yeah," the suit stated.

The suit alleged that Bendetti told servers and bartenders to rate the attractiveness of female customers. "They were required to give women who rated 6 or better ... a free shot of alcohol," the suit stated. "This was very offensive to Scaramella.''

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In January, Scaramella made a written protest about the uniform change and the short skirts were no longer required, but Bendetti cut her hours and she lost income, including tips, the suit stated. Scaramella maintains that Bendetti recorded a video of her pouring drinks and then yelled at her for not ringing in the beverages at the register before preparing them, even though she was in compliance with the rules at the bar, the suit said.

In front of other customers, Bendetti said, "You are no longer needed here. We don't trust you with our money," the suit stated. John Stetson, a part-owner of O'Hara's, and former general manager Frankie Mortellaro supported Scaramella and "expressed outrage and disagreed with Bendetti's decision to fire her" in January, according to the suit. However, Scaramella actually was fired for "exposing and protesting the existence of harassment/discrimination and retaliation in the workplace," according to her suit.

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