100+ Teens, Women Groped And Harassed At Popular CA Restaurant Chain, Feds Say

CORTE MADERA, CA — The California-based Italian restaurant chain Il Fornaio has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment and retaliation across the business, federal authorities announced earlier this month.

“Sexual harassment continues to be a widespread issue in the restaurant industry, and during this case, we learned of at least 100 women negatively affected by Il Fornaio’s work environment,” Beatriz Andre, acting regional attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Los Angeles District, said in a news release.

The lawsuit, brought by the commission on behalf of a class of female employees, alleged that supervisors and staff repeatedly subjected the workers, many of whom were teens, to sexual harassment, including forceful groping, grabbing private parts, requests for sexual favors and explicit references.

Male employees, ranging from the vice president of operations all the way down to food runners and bussers, helped create and maintain the hostile environment, the Los Angeles Times reported, noting that by summer 2020, the human resources department had been eliminated.

Many workers who complained faced retaliation and several were forced to resign, according to the commission.

The commission alleged that Il Fornaio violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but representatives of the chain, which is based in Corte Madera and has 15 locations in California and Nevada, denied the claims, the Times reported, with one attorney telling the newspaper that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

“Il Fornaio takes harassment seriously and will continue to do everything possible to prevent and eliminate harassment in the workplace against all workers,” lawyer Hope Case told the Times in an email.