Hipster Coffee Shop Owner Destroyed Evidence in Sex Assault Case, Judge Says

The proprietor of a Brooklyn espresso and barber store, who was accused of sexually assaulting one among his former workers, got here below fireplace this week after a federal choose dominated he destroyed video proof very important to an ongoing lawsuit.

And Brian Burnam’s excuse for not preserving proof after one among his workers at Cotter Barber sued him in 2019? He thought it was a gag.

“This is this person that has gone unchecked for a very long period,”the worker, Joshua “Jude” Ahamed instructed The Daily Beast on Friday. “He did something fucked up and it’s all so wrong. It feels good to get a win.”

The ruling capped Ahamed’s five-year authorized battle towards Burnam, whom he alleges repeatedly groped him throughout work hours, monitored his actions on the shop’s safety digicam, and referred to as him a homosexual slur throughout New York City’s Pride parade weekend. During his two-month employment in the summer season of 2019 as a Cotter Barber barista, Ahamed alleges Burnam non-consensually touched his butt at the very least 4 occasions—and as soon as even tapped his genitals with a “large glass bottle” in entrance of one other co-worker.

“Jude stop being gay. Be gay but..less gay,” Burnam wrote in a June 29, 2019, textual content message to Ahmed and one other worker after utilizing a slur, in line with a screenshot in the lawsuit.

Ahamed, who identifies as bisexual, began the method to file a lawsuit 4 days later—and he stop on July 6. His lawyer, Zach Liszka, served Burnam by way of electronic mail in July discover to protect the video and any related proof in the case.

In a later deposition, Burnam admitted that he learn Liszak’s electronic mail, however believed it was a prank. Later, nonetheless, he admitted apologizing to Ahmed for making him really feel uncomfortable after receiving the movement to protect proof and the lawsuit. That November, Burnam and Cotter Barber have been sued in federal courtroom.

But for years, Ahamed’s legal professionals allege Burnam has been evading his authorized requirement at hand over movies that allegedly present the sexual harassment, providing up inconsistent explanations as to the their whereabouts. Last March, Ahamed’s legal professionals even filed a movement looking for spoliation sanctions towards Burnam, alleging he “deliberately destroyed security camera recordings.”

A 12 months later, the courtroom dominated that Burnam had destroyed the footage This week, after one other sanctions movement from Ahamed’s workforce after nonetheless not receiving the proof, Brooklyn federal Judge Cheryl Pollak issued a scathing order that slammed Burnam for his misconduct.

“I think Burnam’s excuse that it was a prank is probably the dumbest excuse I have heard in my 10 years of practicing law,” Liszka mentioned. “The judge threw the book at him.”

Zachary J. Liszka

Pollak discovered that Burnam deliberately destroyed the proof he was instructed to protect—even after he was warned that the footage could be routinely deleted from the system. She additionally referred to as his prank declare to be “facially implausible.”

“Indeed, it was not until he was forced by Court Order that Burnam notified the Court that the recordings were taped over 60-90 days after the litigation had commenced,” the order states. “Burnam’s inconsistencies, coupled with his counsel’s belated disclosure of the fact that the tapes were no longer accessible, further support the conclusion that Burnam acted with the intent to deprive plaintiff of the video evidence.”

The choose dominated {that a} future jury in the case ought to, subsequently, be “instructed that they may infer the spoliated evidence was unfavorable” to him. Michael L. Ferch, who’s representing Burnam and Cotter Barber, instructed The Daily Beast that the “defendants believe once a jury is presented with all the evidence it will find in their favor, and look forward to their day in court.”

A trial date has not been set but for the lawsuit, although Liszka hopes to convey it to a jury this 12 months.

“This was not an easy thing to go ahead and call someone out and it sucks because of the amount of gaslighting and questioning that I have been put through,” Ahamed mentioned. “I look forward to closure.”