Gregorys Coffee CEO accused of ‘denigrating’ Black employees

The eponymous founder of a successful chain of coffee shops denigrated and mocked Black employees, paid them thousands less than their white colleagues, and in one instance, fired an assistant manager for no reason other than the color of her skin, the company’s former human resources director alleges in a new lawsuit.

Jessica Day, the onetime VP of People at Gregorys Coffee, contends she witnessed numerous racist outbursts by CEO Gregory Zamfotis, and claims she warned the 43-year-old father of three that he was going to eventually land himself in serious legal trouble. But when he ignored Day’s advice, her complaint says she had no choice but to resign, telling Zamfotis, “point blank, in writing,” that she was leaving because of the “overt bias, favoritism and discrimination within the organization as a direct result of you, your conduct, your words, and your actions.”

On one occasion, Zamfotis “went on a tirade” about a Black team member, telling Day that he “was incensed… [the woman] had been hired because she was missing a tooth,” according to the suit, which was filed Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court and obtained by The Independent.

It says Zamfotis then “stood up in the meeting and engaged in an offensive caricature of ‘Black’ behavior,” only cutting short his rant when Day intervened.

In an email on Tuesday, Day’s attorney Seth Rafkin told The Independent that he does “not discuss details of cases out of respect for the judicial process.” However, Rafkin said, “We recognize that when an individual takes legal action against an employer it requires a great deal of grit and courage. Our client and our firm are hopeful that this case will address not only her claims but also help others dealing with similar circumstances.”

Zamfotis, who dubs loyal customers “Gregulars,” did not respond to a request for comment.

Gregorys, a New York City-based chain, has 50 locations across multiple states. The stylish Zamfotis went to law school but chose coffee instead, and has appeared in the pages of Esquire, GQ, The New York Times, and, most recently, on the CBS Evening News. The chain opened its first store in 2006, and now has shops as far afield as Texas and Minnesota.

Day, who had previously been an executive at Starbucks, began her tenure at Gregorys in June 2022, and soon observed “blatant violations” by Zamfotis of labor and discrimination laws, according to her lawsuit.

Among the first issues she confronted was Zamfotis’s refusal to allow a Black assistant manager to return to work following what Day’s suit describes as a “lawful leave of absence.”

“Zamfotis’ reasoning was that she was a ‘bad’ employee,” the complaint states. “When [Day] pushed Zamfotis for actual information demonstrating poor performance, the most he could muster was that he did not think she smiled enough. Yet, an actual store manager that this employee worked under ranked her as a top employee and described her as ‘amazing.’ And indeed, there was not a shred of documentation of any performance issues.”

Day pushed back, telling Zamfotis that the company had a legal obligation to reinstate the manager, according to the complaint.

“Begrudgingly, the most Zamfotis would allow was for the employee to be sent to a different location under the pretense of her having to be ‘retrained,’” it says.

Zamfotis later “became fixated” on the chain’s only Black executive after she took medical leave for a condition that required a hospital stay, Day’s complaint continues. He described her “as another ‘bad’ employee,” the complaint goes on, and says Zamfotis “even wanted to ensure that the employee would not receive any compensation while she was on leave, despite the fact that she was entitled to use paid leave.”

Black employees were also subject to significant pay disparities, according to Day, whose complaint points to a white, male barista whose $75,000 salary — which was authorized specially by Zamfotis — was $20,000 more than that of the barista’s manager, a Black woman who held that store’s top position. As before, Day informed Zamfotis that this almost certainly constituted a legal violation, but, her complaint states, he “would not relent.”

The white barista was later handpicked by Zamfotis to work as a trainer, denying other employees from competing for a chance at the position, which came with a pay bump, according to Day’s complaint.

“By this point, this white male barista was being paid more than the black employee in charge of Gregorys entire coffee roasting operation and who had been with the company for more than nine years,” the complaint alleges.

Zamfotis also treated women like second-class citizens, ignoring disturbing reports of workplace harassment while protecting the harassers, according to Day. Her complaint says a Gregorys district manager had been the subject of repeated sexual harassment allegations by multiple women, but “took no action” and stepped in to ensure no documentation about it was placed in the employee’s file. In another, similar case involving a different male manager, instead of reprimanding the alleged harasser, Zamfotis had him fire the employee who said she had been harassed, according to Day’s complaint.

By mid-December 2023, Day had seen enough, her complaint states. It says she “repeatedly” told Zamfotis that “he was engaging in ‘textbook examples of what is against the law,’” and that he was “going to get the sh*t sued out [of] you.” But, as before, Zamfotis didn’t listen, according to the complaint.

“Day decided that she could no longer work at a company where her protests were ignored, her department was being used or bypassed to effect unlawful conduct, and where discrimination and sexism permeated the environment,” the complaint says.

Roughly 18 months after Day took the job at Gregorys, she resigned.

Day’s suit says she has suffered emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish, and demands lost back wages and benefits, lost future earnings and benefits, and compensatory damages to be determined by a jury, plus attorneys’ fees.