The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced that Long John Silver’s restaurant in Centralia will pay $200,000 and other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit.
The EEOC charged that Long John Silver’s violated federal law when it subjected a teenage female employee at its Centralia restaurant to sexual harassment. The federal agency said that the company failed to stop harassment by two adult male managers and retaliated against the teenage employee when she objected to the harassment.
The agency says the alleged harassment by the two adult male managers included lewd comments, unwanted touching, propositions for sex, and sexually explicit text messages and videos. The teenage employee alleged that Long John Silver’s refused to investigate her complaint and reduced her hours in retaliation.
The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on June 25 of last year after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The two-year consent decree settling the suit requires the company to pay $200,000 to the former employee. The decree also mandates harassment prevention policies and training on Title VII’s prohibition on sexual harassment and retaliation, the posting of notices regarding the settlement, and periodic reporting to the EEOC of sex discrimination complaints received during the duration of the decree.
Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, said, “We applaud the courage of the young woman who came forward to report this harassment. No woman should be forced to work in this kind of environment, and her willingness to come forward helped protect other vulnerable young women from suffering the same treatment.”
EEOC Chicago District Director Julianne Bowman added, “The EEOC is committed to addressing sexual harassment in the foodservice industry, particularly where the victims are vulnerable workers such as the teenagers targeted in this case. The EEOC hopes this case will serve as a warning to employers to monitor their workplaces for harassment and respond appropriately to complaints.”
The EEOC’s Youth@Work website (at http://www.eeoc.gov/youth/) presents information for teens and other young workers about employment discrimination, including curriculum guides for students and teachers and videos to help young workers learn about their rights and responsibilities.
