A married fashion executive has claimed she made a desperate attempt to ward off her creepy octogenarian boss with a passion for blondes.
Stephanie Copin, a 38-year-old mother-of one, alleges in a new lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by her boss Manny Haber, 83, at Manhattan coat-maker Fleet Street.
When she was eventually given a coveted office, one employee even said, ‘The young blonde gets what she wants by her daddy,’ according to a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Friday.
The alleged harassment eventually became untenable – prompting Copin to dye her hair brown in an effort to appear less attractive to the Fleet Street CEO and President.
But her efforts only led her to be assaulted and fired, Copin claims.
Stephanie Copin, 38, claims in a new lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by her boss at Manhattan coat-maker Fleet Street
Copin claims in her lawsuit that the sexual harassment began when she first went for an interview to work at the coat maker.
Haber conducted the interview, and the first thing he told Copin was, ‘Wow, you are [a] sight to see,’ according to the lawsuit.
Throughout the interview, he would regularly make comments like, ‘Do you have other friends like you? That you can bring to the company?’ it alleges.
After he finished questioning Copin – and had her model one of the jackets – the vice president of sales began to question her as well, and informed Copin, ‘He likes when you try on things for him, so continue to do that.
‘The last girl that was here had a problem with it,’ the vice president allegedly told Copin.
She was then hired as an account executive in charge of The FRYE Company’s account about one week later – and almost as soon as she started, Copin said she heard other employees make comments like ‘Oh, what a surprise, another blonde,’ and ‘Oh, he definitely has a type.’
Copin says in the lawsuit she was hired as an account executive at the Manhattan-based coat manufacturer in August 2023
As she continued to work at the coat manufacturer, Copin claimed Haber would keep her in his office and would put his hand on her thigh ‘and pretend he was just scooting over or needed to see better,’ the lawsuit states.
He would also regularly comment on Copin’s appearance, call her after work, ask her out for drinks – which she kept dodging – and would keep asking her to model outerwear – using her modeling as a pretext to look at her breasts, it claims.
Eventually, Haber even allegedly lured Copin back to his Brooklyn apartment, following an after-hours work meeting at The Plaza hotel
He told Copin his driver would bring her back to her home in Clifton, New Jersey, before he was dropped at his apartment, the court documents say.
But instead they arrived at Haber’s home, and he cajoled Copin to see his place – claiming they would not be alone because the housekeeper was there.
Once inside, Haber allegedly coaxed Copin into his bedroom to show her his view of the city from his window.
He is then accused of exposing himself to Copin, and grabbing her hand, forcing her to touch his penis.
She claims CEO and President Manny Haber would have her model some of the outerwear in an effort to look at her breasts
Copin said she froze at first, before she realized that if she did not act, she might be raped.
‘She pushed him off and ran out of the room,’ court documents allege.
‘I was shaking, it was a blur for me walking out of that building,’ she recounted to the New York Post.
‘I still didn’t understand what had happened to me. I just wanted to get home.’
But when she arrived back at her New Jersey house, she said, she could not bear to look at her young son.
‘I went straight to the shower,’ Copin said. ‘[Then] I hid myself in my room.’
She added that she decided not to tell her husband at the time, because he was already suspicious that she was cheating on him due to Haber’s lack of work boundaries – including by calling her after hours.
Copin had been hired as an account executive for The FRYE Company, according to the suit
Following the incident, Copin says she cried multiple times at work – but the harassment did not stop, with Haber allegedly grabbing her butt in front of co-workers.
She said she eventually asked Haber to stop asking her out because ‘I really like my job, and I don’t want this to interfere with my work.’
But he threateningly responded, ‘It won’t go well for you my dear,’ according to the court documents.
‘He started being really nasty to me,’ Copin told the Post.
‘[He] never acknowledged what he did, never apologized. It was hard to go everyday and look at him, and him trying to get me in a position where he could once again touch me and grope me.’
She said she ‘wanted to quit every day,’ noting that Haber began to ‘humiliate’ her in front of her colleagues.
By November 16, 2023, the lawsuit claims, Haber fired Copin.
Earlier that day, she said, he had called a company-wide meeting where he ‘ridiculed’ her and called her ‘incompetent’ in front of her co-workers.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Fleet Street and Haber for comment
Copin said the incident has torn her life apart both financially and personally.
She told the Post she has not been able to find a job since, and is now getting a divorce.
Meanwhile, she has been forced to seek treatment in therapy as she continues to cry at random times and suffers from low self-esteem.
She also said that despite being a former bleached blonde, she has decided to remain a brunette because ‘I don’t even want to be looked at.’
Her attorney Mark Shirian said he and his client are now ‘seeking justice and accountability’ for her mistreatment at the company.
‘Stephanie bravely stood up to inappropriate advances and faced retailiation by Mr. Haber as a result,’ Shirian said.
‘This behavior is unacceptable and a clear violation of her rights.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Fleet Street and Haber for comment.
