Miya Ponsetto, the woman christened “Soho Karen,” after falsely accusing a black teenager of sliding her cell phone, is being sued by the boy’s family for the high-profile incident, according to new court documents.
Jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, his 15-year-old son and mother of the teenager, filed a lawsuit against Ponsetto and a worker at the Arlo Soho Hotel, where the “violent racial profiling incident” of the December 26, according to court documents. .
Ponsetto, 22, was caught in a video claiming that teenager Keyon Harrold Jr. he grabbed her phone and then tried to attack her in the lobby of the Hudson Street Hotel.
Ponsetto was criminally charged with attempted assault, attempted robbery, theft and endangering the welfare of a child by the incident. This case is still pending.
The Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit accuses Ponsetto and hotel worker Chad Nathan of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment, and hotel negligence and negligent hiring.
He alleges that Nathan “stopped the plaintiffs while assisting Ponsetto, agitated and aggressive, and unfoundedly accused Keyon Harrold Jr. of stealing his cell phone.”
“The plaintiffs were falsely accused because they were African American and defendant Nathan assumed they were guilty,” the court documents allege.
Meanwhile, the hotel “treated the plaintiffs differently from other guests and guests in a public accommodation venue because of their race,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that the only difference between Harrold and his son and others guests “was the color of their skin.”
The incident caused Harrold Jr. felt “humiliation, shame, emotional distress, feelings of racial stigma [and] an increase in the feeling of vulnerability, ”the court papers say.
The family is seeking unspecified damages.
Ponsetto received a public poisoning charge in Los Angeles for an alleged altercation in Beverly Hills last year.
She was also accused of fighting police during a DUI arrest in an incident also captured on video.
“My office, along with the Manhattan DA office, are working diligently in resolving this case,” Ponsetto’s criminal defense attorney Paul D’Emilia told The Post.
“Our goal remains to deal with this matter through the appropriate judicial channels and not through various media,” D’Emilia continued. “Ma’am. Ponsetto remains at home in California and has not been informed of any pending civil lawsuits in which she has been named.”
A hotel representative did not immediately return any requests for comments. Nathan could not be reached immediately for comment.