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<\/p>\nFire Island Pines Manager Sued by Former Employees Over \u2018Dark Series of Harassments and Assaults\u2019<\/b>
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Fire Island Pines is the resort featured on the Logo reality show<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NY Post<\/em> reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n He and Pace interviewed in March 2016 for jobs at \u201cThe Pines,\u201d an enclave of bars and restaurants which cater primarily to the LGBTQ community, according to their Brooklyn federal court filing.<\/p>\n Rapuano-Novella was \u201chired on the spot\u201d via Skype during a bizarre interview in which Priola asked him to take off his shirt, the suit says. Pace, a Long Island resident, was asked to report to Priola\u2019s hot tub on the island, the suit alleges.<\/p>\n Before Rapuano-Novella even got to Fire Island, Priola, who was twice his age, allegedly sent him \u201cinappropriate texts,\u201d noting in one that \u201cyou\u2019re perfect\u201d and asking for explicit photos, the suit says.<\/p>\n Rapuano-Novella charges in the suit that Priola repeatedly asked him to sleep over and \u201cgroped his penis<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Wrote Rapuano-Novella on Facebook<\/a>:<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t yet come forward with my\u00a0#<\/span>metoo<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0story because I was waiting for the right moment. A lot of people know I worked on Fire Island last year. My time on the island was abruptly cut short when a series of dark harassments and assaults at the hands of my boss drove me from the place. I\u2019m so proud of everyone who is able to come forward and discuss tales of their harassment experience. Sexual harassments and assaults are rife in the gay<\/a> community and it\u2019s time that people start really talking about their experience. I have been harassed, attacked, groped, embarrassed, and manipulated by forces in power who tried to use me- and I am not alone in my experience.<\/p>\n The day I reported the harassment to HR and the owner of the business, they told me there was \u201cnothing they could do,\u201d despite showing them proof of disgusting text messages, money that had been siphoned into my account with the suggestion of \u201csexual payment,\u201d and evidence of voice recordings that I had been assaulted. As I sailed away from the island, I knew I could either live<\/a> with this experience, or fight like hell on behalf of our community to make sure it stops. I\u2019m using my voice.<\/p>\n The trauma of these experiences is that they are relived every day. By people across the country who have been hurt and abused and taken advantage of by men<\/a>. This isn\u2019t easy, and won\u2019t be moving forward. This ball has been rolling since the day I was forced to leave my job and it won\u2019t stop until the issue is made clear- you are not alone with your abuse: outside of gender, community, and orientation. If it has happened to you, you have the power to affect change.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Fire Island Pines Manager Sued by Former Employees Over \u2018Dark Series of Harassments and Assaults\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/fireisland.jpg?resize=740%2C444\")
Joe Rapuano-Novella, a former employee, and another plaintiff, Dylan Pace, are suing the umbrella company Outpost Pines which owns several entertainment and food venues at the gay<\/a> resort of Fire Island Pines. Rapuano-Novella and Pace are suing their former manager\u00a0Mario Priola and owner PJ McAteer for sexual harassment and assault.<\/p>\n