Rosebud Restaurants To Pay $160K In Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

CHICAGO — Rosebud Restaurants has settled a class-action lawsuit that accused the Italian chain of failing to help employees who were being sexually harassed. Two women accused the chain of sexual harassment in 2015, and the suit was brought before federal court in 2017, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Rosebud agreed to pay the women $160,000 to settle the lawsuit, the EEOC announced Monday.

Both women worked at Rosebud's now-closed Centro location in Chicago, and said they were sexually harassed by another server, according to the EEOC suit. The harassment included unwelcome sexual comments, sexual propositions and unwelcome touching, the commission said.

The EEOC said the restaurant's managers didn't take adequate steps to help the women. One of the women said she also objected to coworkers' use of racial slurs to describe black people during staff meetings, the EEOC said.

Rosebud must now provide annual sexual harassment awareness training to all its employees during the decree's two-year term and provide semi-annual reports to the EEOC of any complaints about harassment or retaliation, the commission said.

The restaurant chain released the following statement in response to the settlement:

"At Rosebud Restaurants, we take any allegation of workplace harassment or retaliation incredibly seriously. The person who allegedly committed inappropriate acts no longer works for the company and was terminated when the company learned of these claims. Our focus always has been and will continue to be on providing a safe and welcoming environment for our employees and valued customers."

In 2013, the EEOC sued Rosebud for failing to hire black applicants because of their race, the commission said. The suit was settled in 2017 with a four-year consent decree providing $1.9 million for black applicants who were denied jobs at Rosebud. The decree also required hiring goals for African-Americans, recruiting of black applicants, monitoring of Rosebud's hiring practices and anti-discrimination training, the commission said.

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