Customers of Chipotle restaurants in Florida have no way to know what might be going on among the employees unless someone makes a public complaint. Such was the case when a 22-year-old man employed as a shift manager at one restaurant accused his general manager of sexual harassment. After being ignored by upper management, he reported his workplace abuse to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the fast food chain has now settled with him for $95,000 and agreed to strengthen company policies.
The findings of the EEOC’s investigation revealed ongoing misconduct on the part of his general manager. She talked about her sex life in front of numerous employees and asked people to reveal information about their own sex lives, even displaying a “sex scoreboard” in her office that kept track of employees’ sexual activities. She made sexual advances toward the 22-year-old man, which included grabbing his genitals. In addition, she asked to watch him have sex with his girlfriend and expressed a desire to have a threesome with them. When he complained about her behavior, she told other employees to cease speaking with him and locked him in a walk-in freezer.
His case illustrates that sexual harassment does not solely happen to female employees. Although women suffer from this form of illegal workplace conduct most often, men file 16% of sexual harassment claims at the EEOC. The victim in the Chipotle case said that he was at first reluctant to complain but hopes that his action and the resulting settlement will improve the workplace for everyone.
A person being mistreated at work might feel trapped or powerless, but employment law does protect employees from discrimination and sexual harassment. South Florida sexual harassment legal assistance might empower a person to confront an employer that is unresponsive to lawful complaints.
