Stephanie Copan claims she was sexually harassed by coat manufacturer Fleet Street
A married fashion executive claims he used his passion for blonde women in a desperate attempt to scare off his creepy octogenarian boss.
Stephanie Coppin, a 38-year-old mother of one, claims in the new lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by her boss, Manny Haber, 83, at Fleet Street, a Manhattan coat manufacturer.
When she was finally given the office she coveted, one employee even remarked that “the young blonde got her father to do everything he ever wanted,” according to the lawsuit, filed Friday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
The harassment eventually became so unbearable that Coppin dyed his hair brown to make himself less attractive to the CEO and president of Fleet Street.
But her efforts only led to her being assaulted and fired, Coppin claims.
Stephanie Coppin, 38, claims in a new lawsuit that she was sexually harassed by her boss at Fleet Street, a Manhattan coat manufacturer.
Coppin claims in her lawsuit that the sexual harassment began when she first went to interview for a job at the coat manufacturer.
Harbour conducted the interview and the first thing he said to Coppin was, “Wow, you [a] It was “a sight to behold,” according to the lawsuit.
During the interview, he would regularly make statements such as, “Do I have any other friends like you? Do I have any friends that I could bring into the company?”
After the vice president of sales finished questioning Ms. Copan and had her model one of the jackets, he began questioning her as well, telling Ms. Copan, “He loves it when you try them on, so keep doing that.”
“The last girl who was here had a problem with that,” the vice president reportedly told Coppin.
About a week later, she was hired as an account manager at Frye, and soon after she started, Coppin said she overheard other employees say things like, “Another blonde? Wow,” and “She’s definitely my type.”
Coppin said in his lawsuit that he was hired in August 2023 as a sales representative for a Manhattan-based coat manufacturer.
While Coppin continued to work at the coat manufacturing company, the lawsuit alleges, Harbour would keep her in his office, place his hand on her thigh and “pretend he was just passing by or that he needed a better view.”
He also frequently commented on her appearance, called her after work and invited her out for drinks (which she continued to decline), and continually asked her to model outerwear, using modeling jobs as an excuse to peer at her breasts, the paper alleges.
Haber allegedly lured Coppin back to his Brooklyn apartment after an after-hours meeting at the Plaza Hotel.
According to court documents, the defendant told Coppin that the driver would take her to his home in Clifton, New Jersey, and then drop her off at his apartment.
However, they arrived at Mr Harbour’s home and Mr Harbour allegedly persuaded Mr Coppin to show him his house, claiming that the two would not be alone as the housekeeper was there.
Once inside the home, Haber allegedly lured Coppin into a bedroom and showed her a view of the city from the window.
He is accused of then exposing himself to Copan, grabbing her hand and forcing her to touch his penis.
She claims that CEO and president Manny Haber had her model outerwear in an attempt to get a glimpse of her breasts.
Coppin said she froze at first, but then realised she could be raped if she didn’t act.
“She pushed him away and ran from the room,” court documents state.
“I was shaking, and I was in a daze when I came out of that building,” she told the New York Post.
“I still couldn’t process what had happened. I just wanted to go home.”
But when she returned to her New Jersey home, she said she couldn’t bear to see her young son.
“I went right away to take a shower,” Coppin 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 after Mr. Harbour failed to respect work boundaries, such as calling her after hours.
According to the lawsuit, Coppin was employed as an account executive for The Fry Company.
Coppin cried multiple times at work after the incident, but the harassment didn’t stop, and Haber allegedly grabbed her buttocks in front of her coworkers.
She said she eventually asked Haber to stop asking her out because “I really love my job and I don’t want this to interfere with my job.”
But according to court documents, he responded threateningly, “It’s not going to work out for you.”
“He started getting really mean to me,” Coppin told The Post.
‘[He] He never admitted to what he did or apologized. It was painful going to him every day and seeing him try to put me in a position where he could touch and grope me again.”
“I wanted to quit every day,” she said, noting that Haber had begun “humiliating” her in front of her coworkers.
By Nov. 16, 2023, Harbour had fired Coppin, according to the lawsuit.
That day, she said, he called a company-wide meeting and “derided” her in front of her colleagues, calling her “incompetent.”
Coppin said the incident has destroyed her life both financially and personally.
She told the Post that she has not been able to find work since then and is currently in the process of divorce.
Meanwhile, she is constantly crying at times and suffers from low self-esteem, which has forced her to seek therapy.
She also said that she previously had bleached blonde hair but decided to keep it dark because “I didn’t want to be seen that way.”
Her lawyer, Mark Cillian, said he and his client are now “seeking justice and accountability” for her mistreatment at the company.
“Stephanie bravely resisted inappropriate advances and was subsequently sexually abused by Mr. Harber,” Cillian said.
“This behaviour is unacceptable and a clear violation of her rights.”
DailyMail.com has contacted Fleet Street and Harbour for comment.
