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Alleged groping oyster shucker could face drug charges, deportation
By adamg on Tue, 01/17/2012 - 1:57pm
An oyster shucker charged with fondling a waitress at Durgin-Park skipped court, then got a new job shucking oysters at the Union Oyster House, where he was nabbed as part of a drug investigation. Meanwhile, ICE wants him as a possible illegal immigrant.
Two Boston Police detectives detailed some of Wilmer Fernandez's activities this morning at a Boston Licensing Board hearing on the circumstances surrounding his arrest at the Union Oyster House on Oct. 22.
It's the second time Fernandez's name has come up at a licensing-board hearing. Last June, the board heard from waitresses at Durgin-Park that they had learned to avoid Fernandez because of his tendency to grab their asses. One waitress refused to put up with it, he was arrested for indecent assault and battery, the restaurant fired him and the board suspended the restaurant's liquor license for two days.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, Fernandez failed to appear at his July 25 arraignment, but did manage to get a new job at the Union Oyster House's oyster bar.
Det. Peter Chu said he and another detective investigating whether Fernandez has gotten into cocaine dealing showed up at the Union Oyster House on Oct. 22 to search his locker. They found only a backpack, clothing and personal papers in the locker, but as they were questioning him, Chu said, Fernandez asked "Is this about the girl?" Chu said he replied, "What girl?" and that led into a new line of questioning that led to Fernandez's arrest for defaulting on the original Durgin-Park charge.
The DA's office says Fernandez was arraigned on the Durgin-Park charge two days later and is next scheduled to appear in court on March 19. Chu, however, said ICE is looking at Fernandez because he may be in the country illegally. Chu added the drug investigation continues.
Michael Milano, the restaurant's manager and a member of the family that has long owned the historic landmark, said he was shocked to learn about the allegations involving Fernandez. His lawyer, Steven Goldstein, said this morning's hearing was the first time he had even heard most of them.
Police initially cited the restaurant for drug dealing by an employee and being uncooperative with police. Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer, however, said, the restaurant would not get into trouble for the first charge because police presented no evidence Fernandez was dealing drugs in the restaurant, so it will only consider the allegation of not aiding police.
Det. William Dwan said that when he and Chu first arrived at the restaurant, Milano seemed "evasive and uncooperative" at first. Milano, son of a longtime Brookline police officer, however, apologized if what he said was nervousness appeared to be evasiveness. "I honestly didn't know if he had a locker," because not all employees do, he added.
Fernandez is innocent, etc.
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Comments
why did they cite them if there was no evidence?
Why would they cite them for drug dealing...just to be a-holes?
No additional evidence
Also, no evidence that he was dealing out of the restaurant.
That doesn't mean they lacked other evidence of his participation in a dealing ring.
they cited the restaurant
with no good reason. they did a search of the place, found nothing and cited them anyway. Im not talking about the obviously creepy shucker, Im talking about the citing of the restaurant.
Isn't A Job As An Oyster-shucker...
Isn't a job as an oyster-shucker a bivalve job?
Working Conditions
Working conditions can be a little clammy at times.
Go figure
I have been trying to find a job for over a year to no avail, but a guy who gets fired and arrested for indecent assault and battery, skips court and is possibly an illegal immigrant and drug dealer gets another job immediately. Go figure.
well....
now you know there's an opening for an oyster shucker at union oyster house, get down there!
What does that say about you?
Maybe it's time to lower your standards. I'm pretty sure you could talk your way into a minimum-wage restaurant job if you're willing to adjust your lifestyle to a lower income than you're used to.
I think this is the case for a lot of unemployed people -- they kind of "failed upwards" to a certain point in their career, floating up with the strong overall economy like a rubber ducky in bathtub filling with water. Then the economy crashed, they got canned, and now they expect to get a similar or better position.
Unfortunately, one of the problems
Unfortunately, one of the problems preventing people from finding work is this relatively recent trend of employers being reluctant or unwilling to hire currently unemployed people. They prefer to hire people currently working, even people who jump from job to job to job. Heaven forbid they should hire someone unemployed who is eager to work! Anyone unemployed six months or longer is considered "long term unemployed" and hence a pariah to employers.
Jobs
With unemployment as high as it is, I'm surprised he has no problems finding employment.
Michael Milano, the
Apparently, references are not required.
Probably was getting paid
Probably was getting paid under the table and not offered health insurance either. Nice way for businesses to cut costs and pass them off to the taxpayer.
every single restaurant hires
every single restaurant hires illegals / criminals. who cares. I also have been able to get a job whenever I want, anyone who claims that they can't find a job is lying, lazy, or over/underqualified.
finding a good job that pays well is hard but it's funny to see people posting on the internet how they can't find a job.
I find this part to be disturbing, too
In other words, the employee did the right thing, the restaurant did the right thing, and the licensing board dicked them over for it, including lost tips, because it came to their attention.
That's certainly going to be an incentive for restaurants and employees to take legal action against hateful people who don't understand decent boundaries, now isn't it? Workers protect themselves? Restaurants fire workers who are harassing other workers? Let's punish that so nobody ever says anything!
Durgin-Park situation was a bit different
The board penalized Durgin-Park after hearing from several waitresses that they never complained about either this guy or other harassers because that was just part of the environment there and they just learned to deal with it. It was only when this one guy went after one particular woman that management did something.
durgin-park
The restaurant was also penalized because they failed to take proper action after the incident- the waitress called the police after reporting it to restaurant management, not management themselves.