Doral Restaurant Owner Arrested Amid Fifth Allegation of Sexual Harassment by Former Employee

A Doral restaurant owner was arrested after being accused by several female employees of sexual harassment.

Felix Cortes, 55, the owner of La Cocina Martina, a Colombian restaurant in Doral, was arrested overnight on a fifth case and faces multiple counts of aggravated stalking and battery.

The four women who initially accused Cortes of sexual harassment say that he touched their private parts, verbally abused them, and took advantage of their immigration status.

"He didn’t waste any chance to touch us," one woman said. "Verbally, he was abusive and disrespectful, using nasty language when we would serve food."

The women who spoke to NBC 6 are single mothers from Colombia who don’t have work permits.

"I really wanted to go to the police but I was afraid," one woman said. "I'm a single mother and I didn’t want to be deported to my country or have any problems."

A fifth woman came forward when she observed in the news that her boss was arrested for the alleged harassment.

She told police that she quit her job at La Cocina Martina for the same reason as the other women who had come forward.

The victim told detectives that she always felt Cortes was using his power as her boss as well as the fact that she was illegally in the country to conduct himself in this manner.

She said Cortes knew that she would be afraid to report the incident to the police due to her illegal status.

Several women claimed they informed Cortes’ wife to see if she would help.

"The wife didn’t care about our situation," one woman said. "She told us to shut up and be quiet. Get used to it, that’s how he is."

"The wife said just acted like nothing happened so we can have a better environment in the workplace," she said.

They want to share their stories to help other women.

"I know there's a lot of women going through our situation," one woman said. "Please speak up. Don't stay quiet."