After agreeing to settle an explosive $600 million lawsuit filed by five female former employees, Hawaiian Tropic Zone has backed away from a deal to settle out of court for $2 million. It's a surprising move for HTZ, which is famous for its bikini-clad servers; having reopened its midtown location in May, you might think the Riese Organization, HTZ's parent company, would just want this to go away. Each of the women have accused upper management of looking the other way as the former general manager at the midtown location turned the establishment into a "sexual playground" for "boyhood fantasies." more ›

Dennis Riese, CEO of the Riese organization that owns the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, is coming out against allegations of sexual assault and rape involving a Tropic manager filed in a lawsuit against the chain this week. Riese claims that Giulietta Consalvo, the woman who accuses manager Anthony Rakis of raping her in a cab, told him in 2006 that she was in fact not raped and even recommended a friend of hers to be Rakis's personal assistant after the alleged attack. Riese claims that the women who filed suit are simply trying to shake the company down and had asked for $100 million a year ago if they would remain silent on the matter. Another former employee Tiffany Studstill tells the Post that she thinks the women who filed the suit "are doing it for money" and that while she worked at the restaurant, she "never saw anyone in management do anything inappropriate." She also denies the suit's claim that she and Rakis had a relationship. more ›

More sordid details have emerged from that explosive $600 million discrimination lawsuit brought by four ex-employees of Hawaiian Tropic Zone, who accuse executives of ignoring their complaints against former manager Anthony Rakis. At a press conference yesterday, one of the plaintiffs, former manager Giulietta Consalvo—who accuses Rakis of drugging and raping her in the back of a cab in 2006—told reporters, "I want to see him pay criminally. Absolutely, he deserves his freedoms taken away from him. I went through the proper channels, through the corporate . . . chain of command that they tell you to do when you have such complaints...and my voice went unheard." more ›

Midtown's Hawaiian Tropic Zone Restaurant, whose bikini-clad waitresses make Hooters look like Chuck E. Cheese, has been hit with a $600 million discrimination lawsuit by four female former employees who accuse executives of ignoring their complaints against one-time general manager Anthony Rakis. The lawsuit declares that Rakis's relentless sexual harassment escalated into rape after a pre-opening party in 2006, when he jumped into the cab of former floor manager Giulietta Consalvo. Rakis allegedly threw money at the driver during the assault and said, "Keep driving, buddy," leaving her at her apartment "appearing drugged and disoriented." more ›