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Food Management Investors, Inc. (FMI) and Apple Core Enterprises, Inc., Minot, N.D.-based companies, have agreed to resolve a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) relating to practices at their Bismarck, N.D. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar. Applebee’s violated federal civil rights laws by permitting a former store general manager to create a pattern and practice of sexual harassment and retaliation against employees, the EEOC charged in a lawsuit filled in June 2010. (EEOC v. Apple Core Enterprises, Inc. & Food Management Investors, Inc. d/b/a Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, .No. 1:10-cv-00048 (DLH/CSM)). The EEOC filed its suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary, out-of-court settlement through its conciliation process.
According to the EEOC’s complaint, which followed a pre-suit administrative investigation directed by John Rowe, director of the EEOC’s Chicago District, between 2002 and the end of 2007, former Bismarck South Applebee’s General Manager Mike Cordova allegedly regularly groped female employees, solicited sexual relations, and exposed himself. He also allegedly exposed employees to pornography, told sexually explicit stories and jokes and made highly personalized sexual comments designed to demean and humiliate female employees. The EEOC’s investigation indicated that on at least one occasion, Cordova allegedly coerced an employee into giving him oral sex in exchange for a raise.
Despite repeated complaints by employees and, on occasion, customers, Applebee’s allegedly failed to discipline or stop Cordova’s behavior. Five women previously employed at the Bismarck South Applebee’s filed charges of discrimination with the EEOC that led to the lawsuit. Sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“This case demonstrates in a rather emphatic way that sexual harassment is still a challenge for women at some of our best known neighborhood businesses,” Rowe said.
U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland entered a consent decree resolving the suit. Under the terms of the decree, the ACE and FMI will pay out $1 million in compensatory damages to 17 female former employees who experienced Cordova’s sexual harassment and retaliation during their employment at the Bismarck South Applebee’s. The companies are required to implement a comprehensive training program to enable its employees to identify sexual harassment and properly investigate internal complaints.