Three young sisters say their work at a Long Island restaurant was constantly interrupted by sexual harassment. They complained to management, hoping for a change, but it didn't happen. It was an incident of sexual abuse in the restaurant's basement that finally caused them to break free of the awful work environment.

The women, in their teens at the time, worked as hostesses at Ayhan's Fish Kebab Restaurant, a popular Mediterranean eatery with several locations. They are now suing the owner of the restaurant chain and the supervisor of the location at which they worked. They reportedly filed the lawsuit in federal court.

According to the women, male workers at the restaurant would make suggestive comments and touch them inappropriately on numerous occasions. They apparently constantly complained to the manager, who would tell the workers to stop it. But nothing changed. According to the Long Island Press, the women say the workers "kinda laughed it off."

The last straw was an incident in July 2008, when a cook in the restaurant sexually abused one of the teens. He apparently came up behind her and grabbed her so that she couldn't move. He allegedly groped her, and even though she screamed, he didn't let her go until a busboy noticed them.

As a result of that incident, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided the teen was subjected to sexually inappropriate behavior, and that the restaurant was aware of that behavior.

In their lawsuit, the women, who are in their 20s now, are requesting damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress, a hostile work environment and violations of sexual harassment laws.

Source: Long Island Press, "3 sisters allege sexual harassment at Long Island restaurant," Rashed Mian, 14 July 2011