A former waitress at Big Daddy’s Restaurant in Muldrow is accusing the owner of sexually assaulting her.

Robert Claborn, 52, of Sallisaw said he has never forced himself on anyone. In his own defense he told authorities the waitress was upset because he had gotten her fired.

“She was pestering the customers for tips.”

The woman and her fiancé were previously staying at Claborn’s home in Sallisaw, and then she began working with him at the diner in September.

The waitress, whose name Muldrow Police Chief Tony Lewis has not released, said the waitress said that on several occasions Claborn would rub his hands down her pants and fondle her while the two were working together at the restaurant. The woman said while at work, most conversations she had with Claborn would turn sexual.

According to the report, the conversations made her uncomfortable, but in order to keep her job, she ignored Claborn’s verbal comments.

She told authorities Claborn stood in the kitchen area of Big Daddy’s Restaurant and exposed himself to her over a dozen times.

The victim also said that Claborn would ask her to do sexual favors for him but she would tell him no.

Claborn admitted to the officers that he and the woman had sexually gratified each other on two occasions while inside the diner but he said the woman only wanted to stop because she was afraid they were going to get caught.

Claborn told officers that the incidents between the two were consensual and she was the one who initiated the sexual contact, facts the woman said were lies.

According to the woman, after quitting her waitress job she told a friend and her fiancé about Claborn’s actions and was encouraged to go to the police. She said she first spoke with a Sallisaw detective who advised her to contact the Muldrow Police Department since the crime took place within the Muldrow city limits.

The woman said she waited to report the sexual assault because she was in shock and she thought Claborn would eventually stop. She said she felt like she couldn’t tell anyone because she was temporarily staying at Claborn’s home and did not have anywhere else to stay. The woman and her fiancé recently moved from Claborn’s home.

The investigative report completed by the Muldrow Police Department has been turned over to the district attorney’s office for prosecutors to determine if formal charges will be filed.

Big Daddy’s Restaurant recently shut its doors. Lewis said he doesn’t believe the allegations against Claborn caused the restaurant to close.