Retaliation is Illegal

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a lawsuit in which it alleged that Rosebud Restaurants subjected two female employees to sexual harassment and retaliated against one when she complained about sexual harassment and offensive references by other employees towards African Americans.  The EEOC’s lawsuit alleges that a server endured sexual harassment from another server that included inappropriate sexual comments, sexual propositions, unwelcome touching, and assault by the wrongdoer grabbing the server between her legs.  The server complained to her managers about the sexual harassment.  The EEOC claimed that the company failed to sufficiently address the harassment.  The lawsuit also alleges that the server (who is Caucasian) complained about other employees referring to African Americans with inappropriate racial slurs.  The company fired the server shortly after these complaints were made.  Such alleged conduct is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation.  See EEOC v. Rosebud Restaurants, Inc., No. 17-cv-6815 (N.D. Ill.).