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A restaurant is facing a lawsuit after a bartender supposedly said that he was replaced by a plan to hire only hot chicks. The restaurant is a finalist for a concession space at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Tony Clark is the former bartender from Varasano’s pizzeria, who declined to answer questions for 11Alive. Clark’s attorney, Muna Claxton, answered questions instead.
“Tony is not about publicity,” Claxton said. “That’s why he’s not here.”
Jeffrey Varasano is the owner of the restaurant and Brett Holtzclaw is not named in the lawsuit, even though he is the restaurant consultant and is the man behind the idea of the hot chicks.
“You almost have to prove you innocence rather than prove your guilt,” Varasano said. “And we can. We have.”
Holtzclaw supposedly organized a plan that would start hiring hot chicks and then he cut the hours for Clark, according to the lawsuit. 11Alive was told by Claxton that Clark heard Holtzclaw use those exact words to bring in more customers.
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“I don’t even know where he’s going with that,” Varasano said.
“There was never a strategy like that,” Holtzclaw added.
When Claxton was asked if she had evidence or witnesses to corroborate the accusations by Clark, Claxton answered, “Yes we do, and we believe as the lawsuit goes forward, that will come out.”
A complaint filed by Clark with the EEOC was dismissed in September and his lawsuit was filed this week in federal court. Varasano claims that after months of nothing going on, the timing to the current lawsuit is interesting. Varasano claims that since his restaurant is a finalist for a concession spot at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the restaurant has been receiving more publicity.
Claxton claims that Clark and she did not know about the restaurant’s recent publicity. Varasano had to provide a break down list of its current staff as a part of the EEOC investigation. They have 16 males and 17 females on their staff.
“This has never been an issue for us. That’s why this is so ridiculous. We have people of all genders, sexual orientations, races. We just want them to work hard,” Varasano said.
Claxton continues to insist that Clark was a hard worker while on the job at Varasano.
“He did not deserve to lose his job. I have letters from clients that said they missed seeing him there, that he did a good job,” she said.
Varasano claims that Clark did not work hard, showing 11Alive an email where the ex-bartender complained about having to work late hours. The email had a date on it that occurred prior to the alleged hot chick incident.
“Tony just wants what’s fair,” Claxton said.
“This is ridiculous,” Varasano replied.
