Former Starbucks CEO and potential presidential candidate Howard Schultz was sued Monday by a contractor who suffered an accident while installing curtains in the gym of his multimillion-dollar East Hampton mansion.
A lawsuit filed in the Suffolk County Supreme Court claims Julio Guerrero, 58, was told to cover his shoes with slippery coverings in order to prevent damaging the floor while he was setting up the curtains in Schultz’s private gymnasium in June 2017. The lawsuit claims Guerrero slipped due to the coverings and fell eight feet, fracturing discs in his spine and damaging his heel.
Guerrero’s daughter Melanie said the injuries prevent him from getting around and performing routine tasks by himself.
“He walks like an 80-year-old man with a cane,” she told the New York Post. “He’s frustrated in himself. He wants to walk normally and do daily things. … He can’t take a shower on his own, can’t leave the house.”
“Had he not been forced to wear the booties, he clearly wouldn’t have fallen. They’re slippery by nature,” Edmond Chakmakian, Guerrero’s attorney, said. “We appreciate that Schultz has nice floors, but unfortunately, this man paid for those floors with his physical condition.”
According to Schultz’s wife, Sheri Kersch-Schultz, her husband was not responsible for asking workers to wear the coverings and contractor Bulgin & Associates oversaw the project.
“I hope it gets worked out, and they do their due diligence and it gets handled,” she said.
Bulgin & Associates did not respond to a request for comment from the Post, and a spokesperson for Schultz declined to comment.
Schultz is weighing a presidential bid as an independent candidate. The announcement sparked backlash from Democrats concerned his entry into the race may siphon support away from their ticket in 2020.
