Atty demands accountability for alleged workplace rape

A prominent Canton attorney is demanding justice and accountability for his client after she was allegedly victimized in the workplace — first by her supervisor at a Dunkin Donuts in Norwood and again by her employer in the days and weeks that followed.

Ernst Guerrier of Guerrier & Associates said his client, a woman in her early 20s, has received “no support whatsoever” from either the franchise owner or the parent company, Canton-based Dunkin Brands, after she was repeatedly and brutally raped by the accused assailant, Wayne Sullivan, in the walk-in freezer at the Dunkin Donuts at 1202 Boston-Providence Highway (Route 1) on Sunday, December 6.

The shocking incident, which has gone entirely unreported in the local media, is documented in graphic detail in a Norwood Police report, a copy of which was obtained by the Citizen.

According to the report, Sullivan, 27, who was the only other employee in the store at the time, pressured the victim into drinking alcohol and then proceeded to sexually assault her in the store parking lot. The report states that he then coerced her into the freezer, where he raped her multiple times while she attempted to push him off and continually pleaded with him to stop.

The Norwood Police, according to the report, were able to obtain video and audio evidence of a portion of the attack that the victim had recorded on her cell phone. Sullivan was subsequently placed under arrest and charged with rape. He was arraigned the following day in Dedham District Court and held on a $5,000 cash bond.

A probable cause hearing originally scheduled for last Friday was continued until February 7, and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has indicated that it will seek an indictment in Superior Court. Additional charges are also likely to follow, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case.

Reached on Monday via telephone, Sullivan’s court-appointed attorney, Melissa Mitchell, offered no comment on the matter other than to say that she was in fact representing the defendant and that he has pled not guilty.

The victim’s attorney, meanwhile, said he has already filed a workplace harassment complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and he is preparing to bring a major civil suit against Dunkin Brands and the franchise owner, Carlos Andrade, who owns 43 Dunkin Donuts locations in Massachusetts — including four of the five Canton stores.

“My client suffered a traumatic, life-threatening injury as a direct result of what happened on December 6,” stated Guerrier in an interview last week. “It is my professional opinion that Dunkin Donuts, Carlos Andrade, and the store manager placed her in an unsafe working environment, and I intend to hold them responsible for her injuries.”

The Citizen sent multiple emails to the franchise owner, Carlos Andrade, using both the general form on the company website, www.andrademgmt.com, and a separate email address listed on the contact page. None of those emails were returned, and no phone number is listed for Carlos Andrade Franchisee, which is based in Westwood.

Guerrier is alleging both negligent hiring and negligent supervision on the part of the employer for permitting the victim, in just her second week on the job, to work alone with Sullivan, who court records show was on probation for a felony charge of enticing a child under 16 that stemmed from an August 2014 incident in Brookline.

In addition, Guerrier said the store manager was negligent in not contacting police, even after the victim had reached out to the manager via text message and indicated that she had been sexually harassed on the job. Furthermore, Guerrier said the day after the alleged rape, the manager contacted the victim and put her back on the schedule without offering supports of any kind.

“My client went back the next day and worked, fearing that she would lose her job,” he said, “including stocking the very same freezer that she was raped in.”

The Citizen also spoke with the victim in person, and she corroborated all of her attorney’s statements as well as the account of the crime that was detailed in the December 6 report prepared by Norwood Police. She acknowledged that she refused medical treatment after the attack; however, she did agree to go to the police station and she provided the investigators with her phone and all of her clothes.

Recalling the experience nearly a month later, the young woman said she felt very uncomfortable at the time and just wanted to go home. “I just wanted my sister,” she said. “That’s all I kept saying.”

She also noted how her alleged rape somehow became a topic of conversation in her neighborhood within days after it occurred and yet was totally ignored by the local press — a fact that she attributed at least partly to her being African American. “If I was white, this would have been all over the news,” she asserted. “It would have been everywhere.”

Asked if she had been contacted by either the franchise owner or the parent company in the five weeks since the alleged attack, the victim indicated that she had not. Her attorney then went a step further, noting that she has received “no support, no counseling, no medical support — nothing whatsoever.”

“There is no gray area here,” Guerrier emphasized. “Dunkin Donuts, the franchisee, and store management did nothing to protect the rape victim during, after, and now. She’s still suffering.”

Guerrier said he even sent a certified letter to Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin Brands, and he still has not heard back from anyone at the parent company.

The Citizen also reached out to Dunkin Brands — once via phone and twice via email — and received the following statement on Friday from Justin Drake, senior manager of public relations:

“We are aware of the incident that took place at the franchised Dunkin Donuts restaurant located at 1202 Providence Highway in Norwood, Massachusetts. The safety and well-being of crew members and customers are a top priority. The franchisee who owns and operates this location informs us he is cooperating fully with the police investigating this incident. We understand the suspect has been turned into local authorities. As this is an ongoing investigation, we refer any additional questions to the local authorities.”

A follow-up email sent to a Dunkin Brands PR representative on Monday, which asked specifically about the alleged lack of communication with the victim, was not returned.

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Update: On Thursday morning, the Citizen received the following statement via email from Justin Drake, Dunkin Brands’ senior manager of public relations: “We spoke with the restaurant’s franchise owner and understand that the store manager has communicated with the victim following the incident. The restaurant’s franchise owner has also spoken with the victim’s attorney. Since the victim was an employee of the restaurant’s franchisee and not Dunkin Brands, his team has the relationship with the victim.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 14 2016. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.