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South Loop Club, a Chicago bar and grill located  at 701 S. State St., will pay $100,000 under a consent decree entered to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation case.


The EEOC had alleged that South Loop Club fostered a culture  where sexual harassment and retaliation against female employees went  unchecked.  South Loop Club opted to  settle the case shortly after it was filed and before answering the complaint. 


The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a  pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.  The suit was brought under Title VII of the  Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination (including sexual  harassment) as well as retaliation in employment.  The case, EEOC  v. South Loop Club, Civil Action No. 12 cv -7677, was filed on Sept. 26,  2012, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern  Division.   EEOC Trial Attorneys Brad  Fiorito and June Calhoun, and Supervisory Trial Attorney Gregory Gochanour,  litigated the case on behalf of the government.


U.S. District Court Judge Charles P. Kocoras of the Northern  District of Illinois entered the decree settling the suit, which provides $100,000  in monetary relief to the victims, and requires South Loop Club to report to  the EEOC for the next two years on all employee complaints of sex- or  gender-based harassment and retaliation.   South Loop Club must also train all its employees on the prevention and  eradication of harassment and retaliation and adopt new policies regarding those  forms of misconduct.  The decree also specifically  provides that South Loop Club cannot require recipients of monetary relief to  keep the facts underlying the case confidential, waive their rights to file  charges with a government agency, or refrain from reapplying for work with the  company.