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A vegetarian Long Island man is suing the Wall Street firm where he used to work because the boss allegedly taunted him about his dietary restrictions, incessantly calling him "gay." Twenty-eight-year-old trader Ryan Pacifico says Robert Catalanello, his boss at French financial firm Calyon in the Americas, tormented him for being a "homo" who wouldn't eat steak. Pacifico tells the Daily News, "A trading floor is certainly a manly man's world. I just never expected someone to think it's gay to be a vegetarian or to constantly poke fun at me." This from a guy who's been a vegetarian since his teenage years on Long Island?
Pacifico says he was doing fine at the firm until Catalenello discovered his freakish vegetable fetish; in papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Catalanello is quoted thusly: "You don't even eat steak, dude. At what point in time did you realize you were gay?" (The sound of high-fives and guttural belches are apparently excised from the record.) The suit goes on to allege that when Catalanello ordered staff meals, he would deliberately buy only meat dishes, and when other brokers stood up for Pacifico, the beef-boosting boss blurted, "Who the fu*k cares? It's his fault for being a vegetarian homo."
According to the Post, Pacifico was fired last year for "for a minor infraction," but the lawsuit contends it was all because he refused to participate in the meat-industrial complex. His lawyer says, "It's a ridiculous male stereotype that only real men eat meat." It's also ridiculous that people still use the word "gay" as a pejorative, but nevertheless Pacifico would like everyone to know that he's married and even served steak at his wedding. So leave Ryan alone!
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Using the word gay is so ghey.
I don't see why people think their is a connection between homosexuality and being a vegetarian. Normal human empathy is all that is required to decide not to eat meat. Check out this video on factory farming if your curious: http://meat.org
Michael: I call everybody "faggy." Why would anyone find that offensive?
Toby: Okay, I think Oscar would just like if you used "lame" or something like that.
Michael: That's what "faggy" means.
Toby: No, not really.
Toby: Apparently, you called Oscar faggy for liking the move "Shakespeare in Love" more than an action movie.
Michael: It wasn't just an action move, it was "Die Hard."
Toby: All, all right, Michael, but Oscar's really gay.
Michael: Exactly.
That is harassment and I hope his wins. Why can't people respect our vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. Stop the hate.
That is harassment and I hope HE wins. Why can't people respect our vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. Stop the hate.
I don't respect your vegetarian lifestyle and I can understand why gay men would be insulted by being equated with vegetarians.
You probably don't have any self-respect if you are disrespecting people for their vegetarian diets. In regards to Homosexuals, I am sure not all of them eat meat.
Most of the gays I know, and there are a LOT of them, eat meat and a LOT of it. (wah wah)
did you see Colbert last night? he had Paul McCarthy say that the Dalia Lama practices cannibalism. It is hilarious.
"only real men eat meat"
so we're not calling it a vah-jay-jay anymore?
"It's a ridiculous male stereotype that only real men eat meat."
That's not the stereotype at all. It's "all real men eat meat," not "only." Completely different, and an important distinction. I've lost faith in this lawyer's ability to successfully argue a case.
And this was at a "financial firm" -- so this is what was going on while the economy was collapsing?
totally believable, this is pretty much the environment on most trading floors
an i bet Catalenello is a flag waving, Giuliani loving, wingnut with a tacky framed photo of the twin towers in his office..
Which pretty much describes 95% of the dicks (intelligent, yes, but still dicks) on CNBC.
Most definitely believable. Trading floors guys think they are all big shots. Chatting about how many women they can get in bed with, who can make the most money etc.
Not another vegetarian related post! Get ready for a bombardment of comments from felixthecat!
your obsession with Peta and me is hilarious.
vegeterians are such whiny self righteous homos.
Thank you. If you eat a carrot, you'd obviously eat anything.
he should pray that he wins because he will never work another trading desk again. This a bs lawsuit, everyone knows trading desks are basically frat houses and he probably couldnt cut it as a trader.
You know who is whiny and self righteous? All of you ridiculous vegetarian haters. Why the fuck do you care what other people do?
PETA is one thing- they are annoying. But most of the vegetarians I know don't give a shit if I eat a big piece of bloody steak now and then, and I don't care that they don't.
It's called mutual respect. If you give it, you may get it.