SIMON SAYS, "I CAN'T WAIT TO EAT IT!"

Who said that you couldn't creep once you hit your 70s? 73-year-old, Richard Simon doesn't seem to have any problems with it and now he's being sued for it. A Manhattan woman, Amanda Gonzalez, 22, is suing Simon, whom she claims subjected her to five months of sexual harassment that culminated when he grabbed her crotch and leered, "I can't wait to eat it." What? Now, that takes balls of steel! It doesn't matter how old you are! Gonzalez said in a statement that she wants to warn all of the women of New York about this dangerous, old man so he doesn't hurt anyone else.

Simon, a Garment District business owner, pleaded guilty in 2012 to one count of misdemeanor sexual abuse and was allowed to slip back into his New Jersey home without any jail time. He wasn't even required to register as a sex offender. Gonzalez said that the creepiness started when she interviewed for a secretarial job back in 2011 with Simon, where he asked her if she had a boyfriend and how she felt about abortion. Unfortunately, Gonzalez needed a job and started the $22,500-a-year job a month later. In the coming months, Simon, allegedly, made comments about Gonzalez's body, calling it "voluptuous" and "chesty" and telling her that she had a "big butt." 

Soon, Simon started demanding that Gonzalez start modeling new clothes for him, and since she feared losing her job, she complied with his demands. According to the suit, Simon told Gonzalez that he needed to know that she would do whatever it took to get a promotion. Supposedly, Gonzalez complained to Simon's business partner, who only warned her not to worry because "his penis doesn't work."

In March of last year, Simon summoned Gonzalez to his office and asked her if she "would do anything" for him. According to court papers, Gonzalez was stunned by the question as she stood there in fear, while Simon began groping her body. When he grabbed her crotch and whispered, “I can't wait to eat it!” Gonzalez ran out of the office and called the police. According to Gonzalez's attorney, she's a young, very sweet woman who wanted to get into the working world, make a living and move up in the world. This was her first full time job. Instead, Gonzalez received a working experience that was so traumatizing that she is now paranoid about everything. She's afraid to get a new job or walk down the street in fear that someone will grab her. Gonzalez's attorney went on to say, "Some people think that just because you work for them that this is the kind of behavior is not assault, it's not illegal, but it is." 

That statement is so true. I recently worked for a prom dress shop in Linwood, NJ, that was family owned. The daughter was the store manager, while the son ran the web content. He's who I worked for. At first, he seemed like a nice guy, but set so many rules in the work place, which might have been good for a high school student, but not for someone with my experience and background. For me, a red flag could've been the fact that we were asked to sign an agreement prohibiting the use of our cell phones or personal emails while in the office. This was a communications job, but we were not allowed to use cell phones or our own email service. My point in telling this story was that whenever any of us didn't abide by the rules, we were literally yelled at by the son of the company, who was a real son of a bitch! Yet, he was always on his cell phone with his girlfriend and on different websites searching for personal items. Yes, he was the owner's son, but what's good for the goose, right? Anyway, I left the company because I felt that just because I worked for this guy, he saw fit to treat me like I was below him. I know for a fact that I was older than he was; I had more experience than he did, and I probably could've kicked his ass. Now, I wasn't sexually assaulted, but I was verbally and that's why that quote by the attorney really resonated with me. Maybe I should've claimed that he sexually assaulted me? I would own that dress shop!