A formal complaint has been filed against a Manhattan lawyer who harassed employees and customers speaking Spanish at a New York restaurant.
The complaint, filed by two New York lawmakers, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, comes after a video of the lawyer, Aaron Schlossberg, gained traction on the Internet and showed him berating employees and customers of Fresh Kitchen in Manhattan on Tuesday for speaking Spanish and warning he would call Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
“Your clients and your staff are speaking Spanish to staff when they should be speaking English,” Schlossberg said. “My guess is they’re not documented. So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them taken out of my country.”
“If they have the balls to come here and live off my money, I pay for their welfare,” he added. “I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do … is speak English.”
The video was posted to Facebook by Edward Suazo, whose wife Deena Suazo had recorded the encounter.
In response, Diaz and Espaillat submitted a letter to a New York attorney grievance committee claiming that the viral video “disgusted” them. Additionally, they are calling for his law license to be revoked until he “amends his actions.”
“What we witnessed in the vile video from Mr. Schlossberg, which has since gone viral, is a humiliating and insulting attack on the more than 50 years of progress that this nation has made since the civil rights movement,” the lawmakers wrote. “We watched Aaron’s video and we were disgusted.”
According to NBC New York, Schlossberg dodged an NBC News reporter who approached him on Thursday by darting down a street.
The lawyer who threatened to call immigration enforcement on workers at a Manhattan cafe earlier this week sprinted away from an NBC News reporter earlier today https://t.co/BCsW1WSWDG pic.twitter.com/rb5A6XZBXF
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) May 17, 2018
Schlossberg’s comments have received significant pushback. For example, the New York Daily News mocked him on their front page on Wednesday with a Spanish headline that translated to, “Screw you, idiot.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also appeared to comment on the encounter in a tweet Wednesday that mentioned diversity in his city is an asset.
“It’s what makes this city great. The 8.6 million people who call this city home speak more than 200 languages — they’re all New Yorkers and they’re all welcome here,” de Blasio said.
New York City’s diversity is our strength. It’s what makes this city great. The 8.6 million people who call this city home speak more than 200 languages – they’re all New Yorkers and they’re all welcome here.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 16, 2018
