Ryan's Family Steakhouse Pays $500,000 To Settle Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
Fire Mountain Restaurants LLC, doing business as Ryan’s Family Steakhouse (Ryan’s) settled a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") for $500,000. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit Ryan’s subjected black and female employees to a sex-based and race-based hostile work environment, as well as adverse terms and conditions of employment. In some instances, african-american workers were terminated because of their race. The EEOC charged that white employees were also harassed because of their association with black coworkers and family members. The mistreatment included being referred to as “n----r lovers” and “race traitors” by white managers.
The EEOC claimed female workers were harassed because of their gender, and all complainants suffered retaliation for reporting the discrimination. The gender-based hostile work environment included male managers physically intimidating women, making sexual advances, and calling them gender-related epithets such as bitches. This is a form of gender discrimination.
“Any company – whether large, mid-sized or small – should know better than to allow discrimination and harassment to run rampant,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “No one should ever have to endure a hostile workplace in order to make a living. Employers that continue to violate federal anti-discrimination laws risk enforcement action by the EEOC.”
The parties settled the case pursuant to an EEOC consent decree. Under the consent decree, and as compensation for pre-petition harm, three claimants will each receive $25,000 as allowed unsecured non-priority claims, while three others will each receive $50,000 as allowed unsecured non-priority claims – all to be paid pursuant to the confirmed Plan. A seventh claimant will receive two separate allowed unsecured non-priority claims, one for $25,000 and one for $200,000, both to be paid pursuant to the confirmed Plan. As compensation for post-petition harm, four of the claimants will also receive a portion of a $50,000 cash settlement fund for compensatory and punitive damages.
Along with the monetary relief, the two-year consent decree provides for substantial remedial relief. The Paducah restaurant is enjoined from engaging in harassment on the basis of race and sex and from retaliating against employees who complain about it. The employer also agreed to monitoring by the EEOC, training its managers on anti-discrimination laws, and posting a notice stating its commitment to maintaining an environment free of racial and sexual harassment and retaliation. The consent decree is binding on any successors and assigns in interest.
