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 the Fleet Street coat factory in Manhattan.
When she was finally given a coveted office, one employee even said: “The young blonde gets what she wants from her daddy.” according to a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Friday.
The alleged harassment eventually became unsustainable, leading Copin to dye her hair brown in an effort to appear less attractive to the Fleet Street chairman and chief executive.
But her efforts only led to her being assaulted and fired, Copin says.
Stephanie Copin, 38, claims in a new lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by her boss at the Fleet Street coat factory in Manhattan.
Copin claims in her lawsuit that the sexual harassment began when she first interviewed for a job at the coat factory.
Haber conducted the interview and the first thing he said to Copin was, “Wow, you’re a sight to behold,” according to the lawsuit.
Throughout the interview, he would make comments such as, “Do you have any other friends like you that you can bring to the company?” it is alleged.
After she finished questioning Copin — and asked her to model one of the jackets — the VP of sales began questioning her as well, informing Copin, “He likes you trying things on, so keep doing that.”
“The last girl who was here had a problem with that,” the vice president allegedly told Copin.
Then, about a week later, she was hired as an account executive in charge of The FRYE Company account, and almost as soon as she started, Copin said she heard other employees make comments like, “Oh, what a surprise, another blonde,” and “Oh, she definitely has a type.”
Copin says in the lawsuit that she was hired as an account executive at the Manhattan-based coat maker in August 2023.
As she continued to work at the coat maker, Copin claimed Haber would keep her in his office and put his hand on her thigh “and pretend like he was just moving or needed to see better,” the lawsuit states.
He also regularly commented on Copin’s appearance, called her after work, invited her out for drinks (which she avoided) and asked her to model outerwear, using her modeling as a pretext to stare at her breasts, she claims.
Eventually, Haber even allegedly lured Copin back to his Brooklyn apartment after an after-hours work meeting at The Plaza hotel.
He told Copin his driver would take her back to her home in Clifton, New Jersey, before dropping her off at her apartment, court documents say.
But instead, they arrived at Haber’s house, and he convinced Copin to see his place, claiming that they would not be alone because the housekeeper was there.
Once inside, Haber allegedly convinced Copin to enter his bedroom to show him 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 that CEO and President Manny Haber asked her to model some of the outerwear in an attempt to get a look at her breasts.
Copin said she was initially paralyzed, before realizing that if she didn’t act, she could be raped.
“She pushed him and ran out of the room,” court documents state.
“I was shaking, it was confusing for me to get out of that building,” he said. told the New York Post.
“I still didn’t understand what had happened to me. I just wanted to go home.”
But when she returned home to New Jersey, she said, she couldn’t bear to look at her young son.
“I went straight to the shower,” Copin said. “Then I hid in my room.”
She added that she decided not to tell her husband at the time, because he already suspected she was cheating on him due to Haber’s lack of work boundaries, including calling her outside of work hours.
Copin had been employed as an account executive for The FRYE Company, according to the lawsuit.
After the incident, Copin says she cried several times at work, but the harassment did not stop and Haber allegedly grabbed her butt in front of her coworkers.
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 responded menacingly: “It won’t go well for you, my dear,” according to court documents.
“He started getting very nasty to me,” Copin told the Post.
“He never acknowledged what he did, he never apologized. It was hard to go every day and see him, and see him trying to put me in a position where he could touch me and grope me once again.”
She said she “wanted to quit every day” and noted that Haber began “humiliating” her in front of her colleagues.
On November 16, 2023, according to the lawsuit, Haber fired Copin.
She said that earlier that day he had called a company-wide meeting where he “ridiculed” her and called her “incompetent” in front of her coworkers.
DailyMail.com has contacted Fleet Street and Haber for comment.
Copin said the incident shattered his life both financially and personally.
She told the Post she has been unable to find work since then and is now going through a divorce.
In the meantime, she has been forced to seek therapy because she keeps crying at random moments and suffers from low self-esteem.
She also said that despite being a former dyed blonde, she has decided to remain a brunette because “I don’t even want people to look at me.”
His attorney, Mark Shirian, said he and his client are now “seeking justice and accountability” for the mistreatment he received at the company.
“Stephanie bravely stood up to inappropriate advances and faced retaliation from Mr. Haber as a result,” Shirian said.
“This behavior is unacceptable and a clear violation of their rights.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Fleet Street and Haber for comment.
