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Former Oak Room Pastry Chef Claims She Was Abused at Work, Report Says

By DNAinfo Staff on July 12, 2011 6:56pm

A former pastry chef at the Oak Room inside the Plaza Hotel reportedly filed a lawsuit saying she was abused by the executive chef.
A former pastry chef at the Oak Room inside the Plaza Hotel reportedly filed a lawsuit saying she was abused by the executive chef.
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DNAinfo/Amy Zimmer

MIDTOWN — Fomer Oak Room pastry chef Melissa Rodriguez has filed a lawsuit against the esteemed eatery, claiming she was abused on a daily basis, the New York Post reported.

Executive chef Eric Hara allegedly engaged in "sexual, physical, and culinary harassment," including picking her up and throwing her into a trash can at least once a day, Rodriguez reportedly claimed in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

"Chefs are tough, but this one took it to another extreme,"  Rodriguez told the Post.

Rodriguez said she endured the treatment at the eatery on Central Park inside the Plaza Hotel from June 2010 to April 2011.

Hara denied Rodriguez's allegations to the Post.

"It is a money move," Hara said. "I have been cooking for 16 years and never had a problem," he told the Post

A spokesman for the Oak Room could not immediately be reached for comment.