Worker openly ran ‘rape room’ and attacked workers at clothing firm French Connection’s New York factory: suit

A sick textile worker ran a “rape room” at the Queens factory of a major British clothing brand where he openly assaulted female colleagues, a shocking new lawsuit alleges.

Greenpoint resident Aleksandra Pietras said her vicious male co-worker began assaulting her a few weeks after she started working at the factory run by French Connection and sexually assaulted her dozens of times over more than a year, according to a lawsuit she filed Sunday.

“I never thought something like this would happen to me,” Pietras, 60, told The Post in an emotional interview. ‘This man ruined my life’

According to the lawsuit, 45-year-old worker Jose Sabando dragged Pietras to remote corners of the Hollis factory and assaulted him until he finally broke the padlock of an empty room, where he continued to unleash his torment.

The floor of the room where Pietras said she was raped at least four more times was covered in handprints and liquids, according to the costume and photos shared with The Post.

According to the lawsuit, the “brutal” man’s behavior was so well known at the plant that mostly female and Polish employees even told each other to stay away from him as he lurked in the hallways during work hours while waiting for women to pass by.

At least four other Polish co-workers were victimized, according to Pietras’ lawsuit, and factory managers allegedly either knew about or deliberately ignored the worker’s reign of sexual terror.

Sabando’s lawsuit in Brooklyn Supreme Court, which names plant chiefs and the French Company as defendants, says Pietras was fired days after he threatened to go to the police if he didn’t stop.

Speaking through his lawyer, who translated from his native Polish, Pietras said that he was now even afraid to leave his home.

“It was the worst year of my life,” the distraught woman said. “I don’t know how long it will take to get my life back together.”

In June 2023, Pietras started her minimum-wage job as a textile worker at the factory of French Connection, a clothing company known for its provocative FCUK brands, on Jamaica Avenue.

“I really enjoyed the job,” he said.

Pietras said he immediately noticed Sabando, a gregarious textile worker who talked and joked with everyone, including himself.

A few weeks after starting the job, Sabando “began following and approaching” her during work hours, according to the lawsuit.

Pietras recalled the first alleged incident: “I was walking down the stairs from one floor to the next and he appeared from behind a pillar.”

Without saying a word, Pietras said, he suddenly grabbed her by force and began kissing her, sticking his tongue into her mouth.

“I became extremely afraid. “I was in shock,” he said. “No one had ever done anything like this to me before… I felt like I was facing a wild man.”

Pietras was worried that “if I said anything, I would get fired.”

She recalled the man saying “I love you” to her as she struggled to free herself during the first alleged rape.

From that point, Sabando “began forcibly dragging (Pietras) to an area behind a pillar in a vacant hallway on the second floor of the French Connection Factory” where he “repeatedly forced her to engage in sexual intercourse.” states.

Pietras said the brutal attacks would last up to five minutes until his work was finished and usually occurred towards the end of his shift, when the factory would be less crowded.

“I was walking to the subway and crying hysterically all the way home,” Pietras told The Post.

From then on, horrific rape allegations became a regular part of the job for Pietras, who said she was subjected to violence “dozens” of times between that summer and the end of 2023.

He told The Post that he refused to take breaks at work to avoid leaving the factory, and his search for a new job proved fruitless.

Pietras said he really liked the job and said, “I wanted to take the job.”

“I’m going to try to be strong and be strong,” he recalled telling a close friend who had called on him to resign.

His seasonal job ended in November, and Pietras returned to Poland for a few months until last spring, when he returned to New York City and the factory.

That’s when “it became a real nightmare,” Pietras said.

While in Poland, Sabando allegedly broke down the padlocked door of the factory where he brought his victims, where Pietras “observed numerous handprints and liquids on the floors and walls.”

He was unable to eat for days after what he said were “the most violent and aggressive attacks.”

“I lost 20 kilos,” he said, noting that the new trousers he bought from Poland now barely fit around his waist.

According to the lawsuit, Pietras began opening up to Polish co-workers and learned that Sabando’s harassment was an open secret and that past victims had been fired after the violent creep grew tired of them.

Sabando’s girlfriend, who works for a different company in the same building, said, “He appeared at the French Connection Factory multiple times during (Pietras’) shifts, yelling at her and calling her a ‘whore’ in front of many co-workers and supervisors.” according to filing.

“’You’re not the first,’ he says. They do this to him all the time, they always come and bother him, and you’re just another person,” Pietras said, saying his girlfriend would tell him that.

Pietras’ associates said it was part of a smear campaign to build a case against him, which could portray Sabando as the victim of Pietras’ sexual aggression.

The lawsuit alleges that Sabando created several fake social media accounts in his name last fall using her images and sent poorly translated messages in Polish to himself and his girlfriend.

“‘Oh, look, he’s writing to my girlfriend,'” Pietras recalled Sabando telling a group of workers in the break room.

“’He writes to me. “He’s crazy – look at this,” Pietras would claim, passing the phone from hand to hand, provoking laughter from the group.

“I was so embarrassed,” he said.

Pietras said the alleged identity theft and public “gaslighting” campaign were the last straw.

The lawsuit states that the attacker threatened to go to his boss or the police if he did not stop raping her.

Sabando allegedly laughed at him and said: “’This is all your fault. What are you talking about?” Pietras claimed.

The complaint alleges that two days later, on Oct. 15, Pietras’ supervisor approached him at the factory on a mini scooter and fired him without giving a reason.

He tried to explain to Sabando what was happening — even showing graphic images of his genitals, which he frequently sent unsolicited to his boss — but they told him to leave and never return, not even to collect his last paycheck, according to the lawsuit. .

Days later, Sabando allegedly emailed him in his trademark poor auto-translated Polish: “Why did you tell them? Why did you show them my photos?” Pietras said.

He added that as far as he knew, Sabando was still working at the factory.

Pietras’ attorney, Nicole Brenecki, said factory managers refused to even send the check to her office; This is one of several legal claims in the lawsuit seeking unspecified damages.

“It is unacceptable that large companies continue to victimize marginalized individuals like our customer in order to increase profitability,” Brenecki said in a statement. he said.

“It is even more disheartening that such companies allow unspeakable acts of sexual violence and discrimination against multiple female employees in their workplaces.”

Sabando and French Connection did not immediately return requests for comment.

In addition to the civil case, Pietras said he has also met with detectives from the NYPD’s Queens Special Victims Unit and is currently compiling evidence for a criminal complaint.

“The harm was in so many different areas of my life, it wasn’t just physical,” Pietras told The Post.

“I don’t want any other women out there to go through this again.”

Additional reporting by Steven Vago