Labor & Employment Law — 11/11/09

Cheesecake Factory pays $345,000 to settle allegations of same-sex harassment

Nationwide restaurant chain, Cheesecake Factory, Inc will pay $345,000 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment suit filed under Title VII by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced on November 10, 2009. The EEOC alleged that six male employees were subjected to repeated sexual harassment at the company’s Chandler, Arizona Mall location.

Cheesecake Factory knew about and tolerated repeated sexual assaults against the six employees by a group of male kitchen staffers, the EEOC asserted in its lawsuit (EEOC v Cheesecake Factory, Inc, No CV 08-1207-PHX-NVW). The company denied the allegations. But, according to the agency, the evidence overwhelmingly showed that the men suffered sexual harassment, including the abusers directly touching the employees’ genitals, making sexually charged remarks, grinding their genitals against them and forcing victims into repeated episodes of simulated rape. Managers witnessed employees dragging their victims kicking and screaming into the refrigerator, the EEOC maintained. Complaints to virtually every manager at the restaurant were made, but they never put a stop to it, according to the EEOC. Victims felt helpless, and one finally had to call the police, the EEOC said.

“The evidence was clear, and everyone knew about it,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Phoenix district office. “Behind the lavish décor that the company boasts on its website was a horribly dysfunctional workplace where male workers lived in fear.”

In addition to the monetary relief for the six victims, the two-year consent decree settling the suit requires the company to train its employees and managers about sexual harassment and institute an ombudsman to field and address sexual harassment complaints by employees, among other injunctive measures. Failure by the company to fulfill its duties under the decree may mean court intervention and possibly sanctions.

“I am glad that such a severe case of same-sex sexual harassment has been resolved and that we can steer the Cheesecake Factory in the right direction toward creating a safe work environment free of sexual harassment for all employees,” said Acting District Director Rayford Irvin of the EEOC’s Phoenix district office.

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