RESTAURANT SUBJECTED FEMALE EMPLOYEES TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION
Los Agaves, Inc, operator of Mexican restaurants in the states of Iowa and Illinois, was recently sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for exposing its female employees to “serious and widespread sexual harassment by male supervisors and co-workers.”
The misconduct reportedly included “unwanted sexual touching and groping, sexual solicitation, threats, and offensive sexual comments towards female employees,” and went unaddressed even after several employees reported the misconduct to management. (Some female employees were forced to quit, while one individual was said to have been fired in response to her objections.)
Believing that such conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (Civil Action No. 3:23-cv-00065), seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In a written statement, Greg Gochanour, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, noted that “Sexual harassment in the restaurant industry remains a serious problem …. Employers who are aware of unlawful harassment in their workplaces must address it promptly and effectively.”
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