Migrant and refugee hotels have become dangerous places for immigrants who work at their facilities, a lawsuit claims.
Cleaning worker Hatixhe Xhani, 65, from Albania, claimed she was attacked by a migrant refugee at the NYMA hotel at 6 West 32nd Street near the Empire State Building, according to her negligence lawsuit filed against the city and the Homeless Department.
“I treat all people with respect. I am grateful for my job and I work hard every day. I don’t understand how someone can do this to another person,” said the grandmother of four grandchildren.
The lawsuit, and a criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, says migrant Alexandra Leal-Giminez, who was staying with her partner in a NYMA hotel room, slapped Xhani across the face on February 24 in the hotel lobby.
John Ciafone, Xhani’s lawyer, said that Leal-Giminez and his partner accused the Albanian immigrant of stealing a necklace while vacuuming the hotel room they were occupying. Xhani denied the accusations.
For its part, the hotel investigated the incident and acquitted Xhani. However, there were constant tensions because she continued to carry out her cleaning tasks, even for the Hispanic woman and her partner, Ciafone said.
The lawsuit says city authorities who oversee migrants knew about the situation that could flare up again and did nothing to protect it. The hotel was not named as a defendant.
“The defendants…were aware of the threats and harassment and are remiss in failing to address the threats and harassment against the plaintiff, Hatixhe Xhani, which eventually led to the plaintiff being assaulted and severely beaten,” according to the lawsuit. Queens Supreme Court.
The lawsuit, which refers to Leal-Giminez as an “illegal immigrant,” seeks unspecified damages.
The Hispanic woman and her partner were reassigned to another shelter after the alleged assault, the lawyer announced, adding that his client, who has worked in cleaning services for 22 years, still works at the hotel.
Xhani, an Astoria resident, came to the United States from her native Albania in 1987 and became a naturalized US citizen in 1993, the New York Post reported.
“My client is a worker, an immigrant, a senior, a union member, a success story. She was threatened, assaulted and mistreated while she was performing her job duties to support her family,” Ciafone said.
“As we continually witness, our City rewards bad actors at the expense of good, hard-working people who pay taxes for an engineered political fiasco. I think the defendant should be deported.”
A representative for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said Sunday that the misdemeanor assault and harassment case against Leal-Giminez is “ongoing.”
The migrant is charged with two counts of third degree minor assault, third degree attempted assault, harassment and second degree aggravated harassment.
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