An angry waitress claims she was served a big helping of bigotry and got stiffed on her wages when she worked for the husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Caroline Manzo.
Lanise Jackson, who is suing Albert Manzo and his younger brother Tommy, said they routinely called her and other workers “Spic bitches” and hurled other ethnic epithets while she worked for them at The Brownstone House in Paterson, N.J.
“Are you blind?” an angry Tommy Manzo allegedly yelled at her, Jackson claimed in court papers. “What are you, Chinese? Open your eyes.”
Jackson, 36, of Paterson, said she was “constructively terminated as she could no longer endure the racial, sexual, ethnic and country of origin epithets hurled at her hourly.”
Jackson described the catering hall, which is often featured on the show, as a “filthy,” “unhygienic,” and “roach infested.”
The ex-server, who is suing for discrimination, maintaining a hostile work environment, and hourly wage violations, also claims she regularly “worked in excess of forty hours per week” but “was never paid time and half overtime.”
“The allegations are just horrible,” Jackson’s lawyer, Mark Mulick, said. “All kinds of racial stuff.”
Jackson in the lawsuit said she worked two stints for the Manzo brothers from October 2011 to April 2012 and from September to November of 2013.
Asked why she came back for more alleged abuse, Mulick said “she couldn’t find a job anywhere else.”
“She had to go back to take care of her family,” he said.
Reached at The Brownstone, Albert Manzo said he was “appalled” by Jackson’s claims and said her lawsuit came “out of the blue.”
“I’ve never spoken to any employee in that manner,” he said. “This is the most insane thing I’ve ever dealt with. Now I got The Daily News calling me about this, I’m seriously thinking about launching a countersuit. She is defaming me.”
Albert Manzo said he is convinced Jackson’s lawsuit is “a byproduct of the fame of the show.”
“It’s almost like she has nothing better to do,” he said. “I can’t wait for this to go to court. She’ll be perjuring herself.”
Caroline Manzo has been one of main — and kookier — players since the reality TV show went on the air in 2009. Her family is infamous for the “Ham Game,” which is essentially a food fight where they throw slices of ham at each other.
The Manzos are reportedly taping a spinoff pilot for Bravo.
Tentatively titled “Manzo’d With Children,” the show focuses on Caroline as the “ringleader of the crazy circus that is her Italian family.”
Caroline Manzo is not the first RHNJ cast-member whose family is embroiled in legal trouble. The show’s other big star, Teresa Giudice, and her husband were indicted in July on federal fraud charges.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
