A New York man is fired after a woman accused him of ripping her wig off in the street
A woman whose wig was ripped off her head by a man while strolling through New York City early Monday said she now wants to take legal action.
The woman known online as Lizzy AshlieghShe posted a video on TikTok of what she says happened near Penn Station around 1 a.m. when a man ripped off a turquoise wig from her head. In the video, which has been viewed over 500,000 times as of Wednesday night, Ashliegh, who is audibly distraught, asks the man, “What was the reason you took my wig off?” The man appears drunk and laughs when questioned.
“Why did you do that?” Ashliegh asks the man. “Why do you think that’s okay?”
The video shows that two people were with the man and encouraged him to apologize.
Ashliegh, Creative Director, Actress and Singerposted another Tiktok video Later that morning, she explained how her wig was secured with combs and stressed the excessive force the man used in ripping the wig off her head.
“If you pull the wig it looks like it’s going to come loose, right, but it gets stuck because it has combs,” Ashliegh says in the video. “So he ended up pulling my hair.”
Ashliegh’s first TikTok video received hundreds of comments from TikTok users, which ultimately helped identify the man as Anthony P. Orlich, who worked as a trial attorney for Head of Berkon Colao and Silverstein LLP, a law firm based in New York. The company declined to comment, referring NBC News to a statement released Tuesday On Linkedin announces Orlich’s resignation.
“We have been made aware of a video circulating on social media showing a non-work related incident involving one of our employees,” the statement said. “We take any inappropriate behavior by an employee seriously, whether on or off the job. This employee is no longer with the company.”
The company’s post sparked comments from dozens of people on LinkedIn, including some black users, who said Orlich should be charged with assault and that his resignation was not enough.
A request for comment sent to Orlich’s earlier work email was returned with a statement that he “is no longer with Leader Berkon Colao & Silverstein LLP”.
Attempts to reach Orlich via the telephone numbers listed under his name were unsuccessful.
Ashliegh did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ashliegh thanked her followers in another Tiktok video She posted on Monday, noting that people found him “in less than 12 hours.” She said she also filed a complaint with police later that day and saw a doctor who told her her “neck area was very tight” and prescribed a muscle relaxant, she said.
The New York police said they could not give details.
in one Tiktok video On Tuesday, Ashliegh posted that she is “currently unable to say more while I am advancing legally.” She told her followers that she would share any updates with them.
Isabela Espadas Barros Leal contributed.
