The Washington state attorney general has sued the owner of four King and Snohomish County “bikini barista” coffee stands over alleged sexual harassment of female employees and labor law violations.
Attorney General Nick Brown filed a complaint in King County Superior Court on Tuesday against Jonathan Tagle, the owner of Paradise Espresso coffee stands in Tukwila, Monroe, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.
“Bikini barista” coffee stands employ women who serve coffee to a largely male customer base while dressed in bikinis, lingerie or other clothing.
The state alleges Tagle required them to do sexual acts for him in order to be hired, keep their jobs or get job positions. Since 2012, the state said, he requested sexual favors of the employees, touched them without permission, made sexual comments and recorded them changing, among other sexual offenses.
Tagle retaliated against employees who rejected or opposed his sexual advances, the state said, by reducing their hours, giving them shifts with worse hours, removing them frompromotional social media pages, fired them or forced them to quit.
The baristas reported feeling uncomfortable, stressed, afraid or traumatized, the state said.
Tagle could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Tagle also violated multiple labor laws, the state said. He did not consistently pay workers minimum wage or their tips, according to the state, did not pay them on time, didn’t let them accrue or take paid sick leave and didn’t tell them they were entitled to leave benefits.
The state is asking the court to make Tagle pay the employees all the wages he allegedly deprived them of, plus damages. Tagle would have to pay his employees what they are owed when they’re owed it moving forward, ensure their worker rights and cease his pattern of retaliation discrimination on the basis of sex, according to the lawsuit.