A waitress said that the founder and former CEO of a national mortgage company injured her when he forcibly kissed her
The founder and former CEO of a national mortgage banker has been ordered to pay $3 million for allegedly injuring a woman when he forcibly kissed her.
Gregory Englesbe founded E Mortgage Management in 2002. Since then, the New Jersey-based company has expanded to more than 36 states. But Englesbe embroiled the company in controversy when he was sued by a waitress who said he forcibly kissed her.
Kristin Lisi, a server at Scarpetta Italian Restaurant in Philadelphia, filed the lawsuit after an October 2016 incident in which she said Englesbe grabbed her by the throat and pulled her in for a kiss against her will, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
The incident was captured on the restaurant’s security surveillance video.
Lisi alleged that during the incident, the 6’4”. 250-pound Englesbe told her, “You’ve been walking by me all night, and I want a kiss,” before grabbing her and forcibly kissing her. Englesbe’s dining companion allegedly also attempted to kiss Lisi.
Lisi claimed that the incident left her with injuries to her rotator cuff, neck and shoulders. Englesbe’s attorneys didn’t dispute that the incident occurred, but called Lisi’s injuries “either non-existent, exaggerated … or pre-existing.”
The jury, however, took less than four hours to award Lisi a $3 million verdict, including $2.4 million in punitive damages.
Englesbe resigned from his position at E Mortgage Management last week. The company announced his resignation in a short press release, but did not give a reason for his departure.
