LI Market Owner Accused Of 'Human Trafficking, Sexual Assault': Suit

SHELTER ISLAND, NY — A lawsuit has been filed against a Shelter Island business owner, accusing her of "human trafficking, sexual assault, harassment and theft of wages" in regard to her international employees, according to the legal filing.

Marie Eiffel, owner of the Marie Eiffel Market and a boutique on Shelter Island, was named in the suit — which was filed with the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on Sept. 1 by Lewis Johns Avallone Aviles, LLP and Kalmanson Cohen, PLLC— as was InterExchange, the J-1 visa sponsor that placed the eight employees filing the lawsuit with Eiffel.

The suit seeks "tens of millions of dollars in damages," for the plaintiffs, according to a release.

The employees, who came to the United States under a cultural exchange visa program, are accusing that they were victims of human trafficking, sexually assaulted, harassed and had wages stolen while they worked at the Market location in 2021 and 2022, according to the suit.

The plaintiffs, all students from Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia and Ecuador, paid thousands of dollars to participate in InterExchange’s summer work program and were placed in jobs at Marie Eiffel Market, "where Marie routinely spanked them on the buttocks, groped female employees’ breasts, kissed and choked employees, and made sexually harassing, demeaning, and discriminatory comments about their race and looks," the suit alleged.

According to the suit, Eiffel acted as though the behavior was humorous, once ordering an employee to "record her spanking an employee on the buttocks with a bunch of parsley while she laughed at the camera," plaintiffs accused.

"Marie terrorized these international workers and made them afraid to speak up under threat of termination,” said Del Piano, of Lewis Johs and lead counsel in the suit. “J-1 students like the plaintiffs are particularly susceptible to exploitation because of their transient status in the United States and unfamiliarity with labor and employment laws in this country. Marie took full advantage of the ability to exploit the plaintiffs. She assaulted, abused and demeaned them and took their money while hiding behind the veneer of her popular market and café that catered to the one percent crowd that worships her and her business. These brave workers are taking action against Marie and InterExchange to make sure that this horrible exploitation never happens to other J-1 students again.”

Eiffel told Patch that it was "a shock," but that she'd just learned of the suit, and she was unable to comment until speaking with her attorney.

InterExchange did not immediately return a request for comment.

The suit also alleged that Eiffel touched one of her employees in a private place.

Another accusation in the suit said Eiffel asked the J-1 workers to make a homemade dish reflective of their culture, which she said was "disgusting" — but later asked for the recipe.

The suit also accused Eiffel of withholding cash tips left at the register for employees as well as debit and credit card tips for herself that were supposed to have been distributed to the workers and failed and refused to provide them with an accurate calculation of the debit and credit tips that the Market received.

In addition, the suit accused Eiffel of claiming that she “lost” the tips and also, threatened employees that they would not receive any cash tips if they questioned her about the amount of tips that the Market received.

She also threatened to fire any employee who asked again about tips — including the amount of the tips received on a given day or the total amount of tips that each employee was entitled to receive, the suit said.

The suit also accused InterExchange of being complicit in trafficking the workers to be subjected to Eiffel's "sexual and physical abuse, discrimination, and wage theft."

As alleged in the complaint, InterExchange induced the workers and other international students to pay thousands of dollars for the opportunity to participate in the Summer Work Travel program by falsely advertising that they would be placed in "safe working environments" suitable for their needs and that InterExchange would monitor their placements.

Instead, the suit said, InterExchange failed to do so and obligations, breached fiduciary duty owed to plaintiffs and "were complicit" by failing to correct or take action in response to Eiffel's "heinous" actions.