GOLDBERG VERSUS BROKEN SOUND BOCA RATON FOR LIBEL AND SLANDER.
SUIT: “SEXY FATTY, SEXY MAMA” ARE SUSHI NAMES, NOT WAITRESS SLURS.
BY: LITIGATION DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Broken Sound Country Club homeowners Jason and Jennifer Goldberg are suing the Broken Sound association, claiming that they are the victims of libel and slander. The suit, which you can read in its entirety below, alleges that Broken Sound defamed the couple by claiming they were drunk and acting inappropriately. The complaint states the alleged situation started with a bad dining experience at the Country Club’s restaurant and has spiraled into defamation. At issue: a claim that the Goldbergs — inebriated and angry about having to wait for a reserved table — called a waitress “Sexy Fatty” and “Sexy Mama.”
The Goldbergs say they weren’t drunk, and were merely discussing the name of sushi on the menu with their guests. The following line items from the lawsuit present part of the argument. We encourage you to download the entire suit — below — to read and understand the complete complaint. We note Broken Sound has not filed a response to the suit as of 8:30 Tuesday morning.
Lawsuit Claims: Goldberg Versus Broken Sound Boca Raton
11. At all times material the above-named Zest staff were acting in the course and scope of their employment with the Club, were acting in furtherance of the Club’s business, and were performing the kind of conduct they were employed to perform.
12. On April 21, 2023, the Goldbergs had an 8:00 p.m. reservation to meet their guests, Matan Morag and Aura Ramirez, for dinner at Zest.
13. Although the Goldbergs arrived on time for their reservation, they were told that their table wasn’t ready and their guests had not yet arrived, and Zest restaurant and bar was packed. Accordingly, on recommendation of the Zest hostess, they decided to go to the Club-owned bar called Cirq which was adjacent to Zest.
14. At Cirq the Goldbergs – who waited almost twenty-five minutes for their drinks to arrive – received one drink each as attested to in the attached bar chit.
15. The Goldbergs had not consumed any alcohol in the hours before they received a drink at Cirq.
16. At approximately 8:26 p.m. the Goldbergs headed back to Zest with their drinks in hand, to see if their table was ready, but were told again that their table was not ready.
17. The Goldbergs’ guests arrived shortly thereafter and because of the long wait for a table, the Zest hostess offered the party a complimentary drink.
18. The drink offered by the hostess was the first and only drinks that the Goldberg’s guests had that evening.
19. At approximately 9:00 p.m. the Goldbergs and their guests were finally seated and the server assigned to the table was club staff member Emilia Craciun.
20. Knowing that Zest was very busy, and the service at the club is generally slow, Mr. Goldberg asked for another drink, which was his last drink of the night.
21. Although Zest is a Japanese restaurant, Ms. Craciun told the Goldbergs and their guests that the restaurant wasn’t serving Miso soup, salad with ginger dressing, or seaweed salad after these items were requested by Mrs. Goldberg.
22. Making light of the fact that Zest didn’t have on the menu what would appear to be staples of a Japanese restaurant, the Goldbergs’ guest, Matan Morag, made the innocuous comment that “Maybe we have to go to Japan to get a meal.”
23. Then when guest Aura Ramirez was reading the menu, she noticed a sushi roll called a “Sexy Mama” and “Sexy Fatty” and other rolls with unusual names and mentioned the choices aloud in Craciun’s presence.
24. Craciun, apparently not appreciating the humor in the guests’ statements made directly to the table, did not further wait or serve the Goldbergs’ table, nor did she ask another server to tend the table, nor did she speak to her manager to address any concern that she may have had so he could intervene and address it properly.
25. After Craciun abandoned the Goldbergs’ table their food sat at the sushi bar so long that Zest Chef Roni asked another server, Laura Zangor, to deliver the food.
26. When Laura Zangor arrived to deliver the sushi, Matan Morag asked for a second drink, but Zangor snapped at him stating loudly, “I am NOT your server!” to which Morag replied, “That’s not nice, that’s bad service” and Zangor stormed away.
27. Returning to the table a few minutes after this exchange, Zangor snidely said to the Goldbergs and their guests that “The Bar is closed for YOU…. but NOT for them” as she pointed to members at another table causing a scene.
28. Thereafter, to justify their own disrespectful behavior, the Zest staff closed ranks and circulated a lie (started by Craciun and Zangor) that the Goldbergs and their guests were intoxicated and rude.
29. The staff then colluded to slow-walk the Goldberg table’s dinner requests.
30. Among those who were led to believe the lie, initiated by Craciun and Zangor, were bartenders Alpar Barta and Lawrence McConnell II, restaurant captain Paul Mochinu, Zest manager Elias Bensimon, server Daniel Lane, and Chef Roni.
31. At one point, bartender McConnell approached the Goldberg table, and in the presence of other Club members, guests, and staff, blurted out in a loud and obnoxious manner, the false and or defamatory statement (referring to the Goldbergs and their guests), “You are all drunk and you’re all slurring your words.”
32. Like McConnell, manager Elias Bensimon, as he was approaching (at Mr. Goldberg’s request) the Goldberg table, said in a loud and demeaning voice overhead by members, guests, and Zest staff, “My waitress said that you’re all drunk and we cannot serve you…if she says you’re drunk you’re drunk.” 33. Bensimon took no independent inquiry to confirm the waitress claim that the Goldbergs and guests were drunk.
34. At the time of the statements made by McConnell and Bensimon, neither the Goldbergs nor their two guests were intoxicated, nor at any time thereafter.
The Goldbergs seek a jury trial. The statutory minimum for filing in Palm Beach County Circuit Court is $50,000. Read the complete suit by downloading the complaint, below.
These country clubs are out of control, I can totally see one server getting agitated over something like that or mishearing it and getting all pissy and instead of recognizing that they perceived it wrong doubling down. Then instead of the staff going and recognizing the issue they all start doubling down and then the board being power hungry just gives a suspension. These people have lived in the country club for over ten years, I doubt this occurred as perceived. Looks like they just covering their ass. The big mistake was the next day meeting in person when all the staff was doing was documenting documenting documenting
As a current member of this club, I can attest to the inconsistency and bias within the Board’s grievance processes. This club, unfortunately, employs a ‘hive-mind group-think’ on recommended sanctions and has been known to conveniently omit physical evidence and cherry-pick provided facts within the grievance process–to meet their predetermined desired end state. Gossip within the ranks is the most valued currency–and in this case, is a glaring example of how far they will go.
So what does the gossip say, is the club right or wrong? There should be cameras or something. It seems like there the waiters/management were just trying to cover their ass because they know the facts were pretty damming against them. Thus just paint the resident as a drunk and document the shit out of it. I wonder how many of the staff from that incident aren’t there anymore.
Sosueme a la carte.
Almost every club has to deal with Members who are rude or drunk and management should have policies in place to protect the employees and be sure the Members are handled properly and fairly. The mistake here is the server took control of the situation and decided how to handle what she thought was offensive. She should have immediately went to her manager and put the problem in their hands to deal with. The Manager then needs to determine what actually is going on and make an unbiased determination. This protects the server from having to deal with a bad situation and protects the member by getting someone in charge to handle it appropriately. Facts first, punishment , if needed, later. Maybe the menu items repeated out loud hit a little too close to home.