Slurs, stalking and shoddy pay: Culver’s franchise settles slew of EEOC claims

Dive Brief:

• The operator of a Minnesota Culver’s franchise will pay $261,000 to settle two separate harassment and discrimination lawsuits brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced Monday.
• EEOC alleged that managers and co-workers subjected a gay and African American employee to harassment on the basis of his race and sexual orientation. A class of female employees also claimed they faced sex-based harassment at the franchisee’s stores. Separately, EEOC alleged the franchisee subjected a worker with an intellectual disability to harassment and underpaid him relative to other employees.
• EEOC claimed that the franchisee failed to address the hostile work environment and discrimination after receiving complaints. Via a set of consent decrees, the company agreed to pay $186,000 to the former group of plaintiffs and $75,000 to the employee in the disability bias suit along with other equitable relief. It denied violating the Title VII of 1964 Civil Rights Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Dive Insight:

In its press release, the EEOC alleged a wide range of misconduct targeting the plaintiffs. The list of specific claims included:

• Racial and homophobic slurs
• Comments on an employee’s body and sex life
• Unwelcome touching
• Stalker-like behavior
• Unwelcome pet names
• “Creepy” gifts from adult employees targeting teenage girls
• Unfair discipline and hostility

The EEOC settled its case on behalf of a gay Culver’s employee after initially ordering staff in January to halt processing of claims alleging discrimination on the basis of either sexual orientation or gender identity. The pause came shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump and his appointment of Acting Chair Andrea Lucas to lead the commission.

In its press release announcing the settlement, EEOC linked to its internal webpages on sex-based discrimination and harassment, both of which displayed messages indicating that the pages were being reviewed for compliance with the law as well as executive orders and would be revised.

Lucas has in recent months distanced the agency from anti-discrimination enforcement with respect to transgender workers and, in February, EEOC removed itself from multiple gender-identity discrimination cases it had filed during the Biden administration. One of those lawsuits involved claims against a Michigan Culver’s restaurant, in which a transgender worker alleged he was fired along with his colleagues after they complained about harassment.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union Fund of Michigan have since taken up representation of the employee in the Michigan case, Lucas v. Brik Enterprises.