Manhattan landlord sued by housekeeper for allegedly abusive practices in Florida

Irma Diaz , a 65-year-old housekeeper at the Palm Beach home of Manhattan landlord Abe Haruvi says she was forced to work from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., while sharing living quarters with her employers’ dogs, according to the Post. Haruvi owns more than 40 Manhattan buildings. Several years ago he allegedly tried to evict rent-stabilized tenants by wrongly claiming he needed their homes for his personal use, the Post said. In the suit, filed in Florida, Diaz says that she had to use the same shower where the dogs urinated, and that Haruvi’s wife, Giovanna, “regularly pushed, squeezed, shook and slapped” her. Diaz also says she had no breaks for meals and was so hungry that she once had to scrounge around for crumbs near the garbage. The suit seeks unspecified damages. A woman who answered Giovanna’s phone said she’d never heard of Diaz — who worked for Haruvi from July to September — or the allegations in the lawsuit. [Post]