Phillips & Associates represents Melisa Kulla in a federal lawsuit against Maksud Agadjani, the founder and CEO of Diamond District jeweler TraxNYC. The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, blacklisting, and forced resignation. The case has drawn media coverage, including in the New York Post.
According to the lawsuit, after Ms. Kulla ended her relationship with Agadjani and later declined his marriage proposal, he subjected her to vulgar and threatening messages, including ethnic slurs directed at her Albanian heritage and sexually degrading remarks. The complaint alleges that when she asked for time off to cope with the stress, ongoing retaliation forced her to resign.
The complaint further alleges that Agadjani used his large social media following in an effort to blacklist Ms. Kulla from the Diamond District by publicly threatening businesses that considered working with her. It also alleges that he continued to contact and harass her after she obtained an order of protection, including through a third party.
Partner Michelle Caiola, who represents Ms. Kulla, said in a statement to the New York Post:
“No number of social media followers and no amount of industry influence places anyone above the law. Ms. Kulla has shown remarkable courage in standing up to conduct designed to humiliate her, destroy her livelihood, and frighten her into silence. We intend to hold the defendants fully accountable.”
You can read more about the case and Attorney Michelle Caiola’s comments here.
Why This Case Matters
Workplace harassment and retaliation cases often involve more than offensive comments or isolated conduct. Some cases involve allegations that a person with power over an employee’s job, reputation, income, or future opportunities used that influence after a workplace relationship ended or after personal advances were rejected.
According to the lawsuit, Ms. Kulla alleges that after she ended the relationship and declined a marriage proposal, the conduct escalated into threatening messages, ethnic slurs, sexually degrading remarks, blacklisting efforts, and continued harassment. Those allegations raise issues that often appear in workplace relationship harassment and retaliation cases, including power imbalance, reputational pressure, forced resignation, and efforts to interfere with future employment.
For employees, the important point is this: conduct that begins as a workplace relationship or personal relationship may still raise serious legal issues if rejection, a breakup, or refusal leads to harassment, retaliation, threats, job loss, forced resignation, or efforts to damage someone’s livelihood.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can harassment after a workplace relationship ends be illegal?
Yes. A workplace or personal relationship does not automatically prevent an employee from bringing harassment, discrimination, or retaliation claims. If the employee is punished, threatened, humiliated, forced out, or targeted after ending the relationship or rejecting advances, the conduct may raise legal issues.
What if my boss or someone powerful at work retaliates after I say no?
Retaliation may include termination, forced resignation, reduced opportunities, threats, reputational attacks, blacklisting, schedule changes, exclusion, or other conduct designed to punish an employee for rejecting advances, ending a relationship, reporting harassment, or asserting workplace rights.
Can someone’s industry influence or social media following matter in a harassment case?
It can. If a person uses workplace authority, industry influence, public pressure, or social media to threaten an employee’s job prospects or reputation, those facts may be relevant to claims involving retaliation, coercion, blacklisting, emotional distress, or forced resignation.
Should I speak with a lawyer if my boss keeps hitting on me?
Yes, especially if the person controls your pay, schedule, assignments, promotion opportunities, job security, or reputation. A single comment or invitation may not be enough by itself, but repeated advances, pressure, threats, retaliation, or worse treatment after rejection can become legally significant.
Can I have a case if I once agreed to the relationship?
Possibly. The law does not look only at whether a relationship existed. It also looks at power, pressure, whether the conduct became unwelcome, whether the employee felt free to say no, and whether the employee was punished after rejecting advances or ending the relationship.
If you are facing sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or punishment after ending a workplace relationship, Phillips & Associates may be able to help. Our firm represents employees across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida in employment law matters.
Call (866) 229-9441 or contact us online to request a free consultation.