The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that a federal jury in Milwaukee has returned a $105,000 verdict following a four-day sexual harassment trial in a sexual harassment case brought by the agency.

The jury’s verdict awarded an aggregate of $5,000 to two teenagers who worked at a Racine, Wis., IHOP restaurant who, the EEOC alleged, were sexually harassed by their assistant manager, who subjected them to sexual propositions, groping and hair-pulling. In addition, the jury found that the IHOP had acted recklessly with respect to one of the servers and awarded her $100,000 in punitive damages. The EEOC said that punitive damages may be awarded by juries to punish such conduct and to discourage it in the future.

The IHOP at which the servers worked, and where they were harassed, was owned by Salauddin Janmohammed, and managed by a management consulting firm, Flipmeastack, owned by his wife. In defending the case, the IHOP contended that the restaurant had a strong policy against sexual harassment and that the victim’s complaints about the harassment were not sufficient -- defenses which the jury apparently rejected.

The case, captioned EEOC v. Management Hospitality of Racine, Inc.; Flipmeastack, Inc. and Salauddin Janmohammed, E.D. Wis. No. 06-C-0715, was filed by the EEOC in 2006, and presided over by Judge Lynn Adelman. Management Hospitality of Racine was one of approximately 20 IHOP restaurants located in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa owned by Janmohammed, and managed by Flipmeastack. The jury returned its verdict on Thursday, November 19.