Dive Brief:
- California-based fine dining chain Il Fornaio agreed to pay $3 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that female employees, many of whom were teenagers, were sexually harassed and forced to quit after the company failed to stop the harassment, EEOC announced Tuesday.
- According to the amended complaint in EEOC v. Il Fornaio (America) LLC, male executives, managers and employees across the restaurant’s multiple locations allegedly subjected female employees to constant and egregious sexual harassment, including vulgar groping, sexual comments and requests for sexual favors. In one alleged incident, a male busser sexually assaulted a female employee in the bathroom, the lawsuit said.
- No corrective action was taken against any of the harassers, and the HR department dismissed or failed to investigate many of the women’s complaints, EEOC alleged. The case represents the agency’s ongoing efforts to combat sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, which “continues to be a widespread issue,” Beatriz Andre, EEOC acting regional attorney in Los Angeles, stated in the announcement.
Dive Insight:
EEOC sued Il Fornaio for allegedly creating a sexually hostile work environment, retaliating and constructively discharging workers in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agency learned of at least 100 women negatively affected by the restaurant’s work environment, Andre said.
Il Fornaio denied the allegations and asserted that it took “reasonable steps to prevent harassment” and that “any claimed adverse actions were taken for legitimate” reasons, according to a three-year consent decree, which formalized the settlement. The court document also emphasized that it was not an admission of liability or an adjudication of any alleged wrongdoing.
In an email to HR Dive, Matt Foley, Il Fornaio’s director of marketing and creative services, said the restaurant “takes harassment seriously and will continue to do everything possible to prevent and eliminate harassment in the workplace against all workers. The company prides itself on fostering a positive working environment for its employees, which is reflected in the high number of long-term employees and low turnover rate for the industry.”
Foley added that, “Il Fornaio entered into the Consent Decree to avoid the burden, expense, and uncertainty of continued litigation, and has increased its efforts to prevent and eliminate harassment and discrimination of all kinds in the workplace.”
Teen workers in the restaurant industry may be especially vulnerable to sexual harassment, an EEOC commissioner told HR Dive in 2024. One reason is that the work culture tends to tolerate alcohol consumption and tie pay to customer satisfaction, the commissioner said. Also, teen workers are often in their first or second job, less aware of laws or norms and may not be able, or lack the confidence, to complain, she added.
HR plays a valuable role in protecting them against sexual harassment and is “absolutely necessary for a company to survive,” stressed a then-regional attorney on EEOC’s staff.
The consent decree in the Il Fornaio case requires its HR staff to attend three hours of live, interactive training, in person, each year for three years. The training must stress their obligation to promptly report and take appropriate preventative and corrective measures against potential or actual harassing behavior, as well as their obligation to investigate complaints.
Managerial and supervisory employees, including general managers, assistant managers, chefs and sous chefs, must receive similar training.
