A Burger King employee suffered unwanted touching and filthy comments from her male manager on a weekly basis and was dismissed after repeatedly reporting it, according to federal officials.
The business that owns the Burger King in Murphy, North Carolina, is accused of allowing the assault against the pregnant female employee to continue. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said on Jan. 19 that it will now pay to resolve a complaint filed by the agency.
“The harassment was intense and pervasive,” court records state. “It changed the terms and conditions of (her) job and produced an oppressive work environment.” The EEOC said in a news release that the Burger King franchise, North Georgia Foods Inc., will pay $60,000 to settle a claim alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and pregnancy discrimination.
In a statement, EEOC Regional Attorney Melinda C. Dugas said, “The outcome of this case shows that employers who ignore complaints of sex-based harassment in the workplace or retaliate against employees for exercising their rights under Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) will be held accountable.”
On Jan. 20, McClatchy News called North Georgia Foods and Burger King for comment but did not receive an instant response. The manager of Burger King allowed “the opportunity to prey on” the worker.
According to a complaint, when the employee was hired to work at Burger King in Murphy in August 2018, the environment became “hostile” to her.
A male assistant manager began harassing her with “vulgar sexual statements,” “threatened behavior,” and “unwelcome groping and caressing,” according to the lawsuit. According to the complaint, some of the unwanted sexual contact would take place in isolated parts of the restaurant.
According to the lawsuit, the manager worked with the woman on a regular basis and had “the chance to prey upon” her.
According to the complaint, he informed the woman that if she reported him to management, she would be fired. He is also accused of threatening to look up her home address on the company’s computer.
After complaints, an employee is removed from the schedule.
Burger King is accused of retaliating against and dismissing the employee after she reported the harassment. According to the complaint, the restaurant dropped her from its calendar in June 2019. The next month, she filed an allegation of discrimination with the EEOC and gave birth, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, after the lady was fired, a general manager told other employees she was on pregnancy leave when she didn’t show up to work, rather than indicating she had been fired.
As part of the lawsuit settlement, North Georgia Foods agreed to post a phone number for employees to report harassment, amend anti-discrimination policies, and teach staff how to submit discrimination complaints under Title VII, according to the EEOC.
