JAMAICA — The owner of a Queens funeral home sexually harassed a former employee by continually remarking about the private parts of male cadavers, a new lawsuit charges.
Richard Santiago is suing his former boss, Bernard F. Dowd, for $500,000, claiming his ghoulish behavior was dead wrong — and a violation of New York City Human Rights Law.
“Throughout the course of Mr. Santiago’s employment, the employer created a hostile working environment on the basis of sex, e.g. the principal continually made remarks to Mr. Santiago about the sexual organs of male corpses in the funeral home,” the lawsuit says.
Dowd, whose funeral home is in Jamaica and named after himself, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Santiago worked as a funeral director but left the job in November 2012, the lawsuit says. His lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.