Pharmacist sues karate center for banning her for affair with younger instructor

A New York pharmacist claims she was the victim of sex discrimination when a Long Island karate center allegedly banned her for an affair she had with one of their instructors.

Kristin Fabbio-Hamelburg, a wife and mother of two, said her husband forgave her for the date, but the owner of the karate center did not, according to a complaint filed with the state Division of Human Rights that obtained the New York Daily News.

Fabbio-Hamelburg told the Daily News that he earned his training certificate at the Tiger Schulmann karate center at Rockville Center on Long Island.

But the owner, Jobin George, barred her from the center and, through her lawyer, Aaron Kleinmann, said it was not jealousy or puritanical zeal, but her husband’s threats and frequent visits that led to her banishment.

Fabbio-Hamelburg said he earned his training certificate at the Rockville Center’s Tiger Schulmann karate center on Long Island, but it was withdrawn after the affair.

According to the Human Rights Division’s complaint, George said they did not want her back “in order to preserve the health and safety of compromised gym staff members and students.”

The emails in the complaint show the back and forth between George and Fabbio-Hamelburg, which showed their discomfort with the couple’s domestic problems.

‘a contempt [sic] your husband can do crazy things and your presence makes everyone uncomfortable because your husband is a threat,” George wrote to Kristin Fabbio-Hamelburg.

Some of the other emails paint a picture of a spouse dumped for complaining about Fabbio-Hamelburg and insisting that he was not a threat to the karate center.

The owner, Jobin George, prohibited her from entering the center and, through her lawyer, Aaron Kleinmann, said that it was not jealousy or puritanical zeal, but her husband’s threats and frequent visits that caused the banishment.

The romance between Fabbio-Hamelburg and the karate instructor began in 2019 when she learned martial arts at the center during a special Mother’s Day class.

Her husband, Daniel Hamelburg, wrote an email to the owner insisting that he was not a threat to the karate center.

‘I am NOT a threat to your school. I know it seems that way,” Daniel Hamelburg wrote in the email.

“You don’t know the real me, you only see the cheated and beaten husband I’ve become in the last 2 years, which were a nightmare for me.”

He admitted to raising his voice in the center.

“To show you more of who I am, after my visit in August, yes I visited again, we sat in the office like gentlemen and I apologize for my first visit,” he wrote. ‘Kristin has been pushing me to a breaking point. It’s not fair, I’m not only depressed but the children are affected as well.’

The romance between Fabbio-Hamelburg and the karate instructor began in 2019 when she began practicing martial arts at the center during a special Mother’s Day class.

“My oldest son started training there and then there was a Mother’s Day class, so I attended the class because my son asked me to,” Fabbio-Hamelburg told the Daily News. ‘I never knew it was so satisfying to hit something.’

She became a certified karate instructor in 2021 and began teaching classes.

“It was my way out, my stress relief, for two and a half years until Jobin decided to randomly fire me,” he said.

Fabbio-Hamelburg admitted to the affair and met from time to time at the training center.

“We played a little bit inside the school on two occasions, one of which Jobin claimed to have a video of, but I don’t know, he was never able to produce it,” he said.

The owner eventually withdrew his certification but did not punish the instructor with whom he had an affair, who was not identified, he said.

Fabbio-Hamelburg added that she is working things out with her husband and wants to be able to train and teach at other Tiger Schulmann locations.