Payback Is Swift for Lawyer in 'Racist Rant'

Lawmakers have filed an official complaint
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2018 6:19 AM CDT

Manhattan attorney Aaron Schlossberg had a lot more to worry about than restaurant workers speaking Spanish on Thursday. After his rant against the workers for not speaking English went viral, two Democratic lawmakers filed a complaint against him with a disciplinary committee, the AP reports. "The audacity to profile and verbally assault innocent bystanders and customers in a public commercial location is a violation of our civil society," Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. wrote to New York state's court system, calling the video, in which Schlossberg threatens to have the workers kicked out of the country, a "viral racist rant." In other developments:

  • Kicked out of his office. Schlossberg has been evicted from the Madison Avenue business center he was using as his law firm's address. Corporate Suites president Hayim Grant tells the New York Post that the agreement has been terminated—and he was "completely shocked" by the video. "His actions are just not consistent with our community and rules and regulations," Grant says. "It’s totally contrary to everything we believe in as a company and personally."

  • Call for disbarment. Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, tells Gothamist that he believes disbarment would be an appropriate punishment for the 44-year-old attorney "Diversity is supposed to be the strength of this city, but here we are fighting against the same vitriol and invective that's coming out of the White House," he says. "Someone who has the privilege to be a member of the bar should not conduct themselves this way,"
  • Mariachi fundraiser. A GoFundMe fundraiser to send a mariachi band to Schlossberg's office easily raised more than double its $500 goal, meaning there is enough money for a taco truck and some pinatas as well, the Hill reports.
  • Dodging reporters. Schlossberg hid behind an umbrella and called the police instead of answering questions when he was confronted by New York Daily News reporters outside his Manhattan apartment building. "Please send help," he said to police, complaining that reporters were "yelling" and "claiming things that aren't true."
  • A previous video. This isn't the first time Schlossberg has engaged in this kind of behavior, the Boston Globe reports. After the restaurant video went viral, a video of the attorney harassing a man walking down a New York City street surfaced. In the video, Schlossberg berates Massachusetts man Willie Morris, calling him an "ugly f------ foreigner."
(More Manhattan stories.)

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