The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Long John Silver's has reached a consent decree in a lawsuit alleging the defendant’s female employees at its restaurant in Centralia faced sexual harassment and retaliation.
A joint motion for entry of consent decree was filed on March 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The EEOC is represented by Elizabeth Banaszak, and LJS OpCo Two, doing business as Long John Silver’s, is represented by Jessica Causgrove of Fisher & Phillips LLP in Chicago.
“In the interest of resolving this matter, and as a result of having engaged in comprehensive settlement negotiations, plaintiff and defendant have agreed that this action should be fully and finally resolved by entry of this consent decree, without any admission of liability,” the decree states.
According to the consent decree, the defendant agreed to pay $200,000 to the “charging party.” Of that amount, $170,000 is designated as compensatory damages for the “charging party” with the remaining $30,000 designated as attorney fees and will be paid to attorney Joel Cohen.
The defendant is enjoined from subjecting employees to harassment based on sex and from engaging in any form of retaliation against anyone who opposes any prohibited practices.
The defendant agreed to review its policies with regards to sexual harassment and revise them if necessary. It also agreed to employ an independent trainer to provide annual training to employees at its locations in Centralia, Mount Vernon, Effingham, Marion, Harrisburg, Fairview Heights, West Frankfort and Collinsville.
The lawsuit was filed on June 25, 2021, and alleged violations of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
The EEOC alleged that beginning in May 2019, female employees working at the Long John Silver’s restaurant in Centralia were subject to unlawful employment practices. Specifically, the female employees allegedly faced “unwelcome and offensive physical contact and sexual comments and propositions,” including a male manager sending two explicit videos of himself to one of the 17-year-old employees. He then allegedly repeatedly asked her, “Did you like it,” and added, “If you wanna test it out let me know.”
The defendant failed to take disciplinary action against the harassers, allowing the conduct to continue, the complaint alleged.
The suit stated that Long John Silver’s allegedly responded by cutting the female employee’s hours in retaliation after she reported the sexual harassment.
The EEOC alleged that the defendant failed to prevent or remedy the harassment and failed to train its employees about its policies against sexual harassment.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:21-cv-717