Bartender told to dress ‘sexy’ and go on dates with customers by restaurant boss wins £70,000 payout
Lawsuit accused restaurant owner of encouraging work environment in which ‘unwelcome, sexually charged comments and conduct was permissible and commonplace’
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Your support makes all the difference.A bartender who was allegedly asked to dress “sexy” and “date ready” and go on dates with customers by the boss of a restaurant in Florida has been awarded $80,000 (£60,800) after a sexual harassment lawsuit.
The lawsuit accused Chris Christakos, who is the owner of Christini’s Ristorante Italiano in Orlando, of encouraging a work environment in which “unwelcome, sexually charged comments and conduct was permissible and commonplace”.
The lawsuit, filed by federal agency the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleged the bartender was described to restaurant guests as available to date them, subjected to sexual innuendoes, and was told to dress “sexy” and “date-ready”.
She was said to have been sacked when she complained to the management.
“Federal law is abundantly clear that sexual harassment will not be tolerated,” Michael Farrell, director of the EEOC’s Miami District, said. “Employers who ignore anti-discrimination laws should be on notice that they do so at their own peril.”
The restaurant agreed to fork out $80,000 to settle the sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. It will instigate a series of measures to prevent harassment happening in the future.
Mr Christakos, who is known as Chris Christini, and his workers will be made to go through anti-harassment training, while management must develop an anti-harassment policy.
The bartender will get a positive written job reference from the restaurant.
The conditions of the settlement will also mean Christini’s will hire an independent third-party to operate a telephone hotline for employees to report incidents of discrimination and harassment.
It must post a notice referencing the lawsuit, advising employees of their rights, and submit a confidential, anonymous workplace survey to the EEOC.
Last autumn, the EEOC announced the number of sexual harassment complaints workers filed with the agency over the past year rose for the first time in nearly a decade – attributing the increase to the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault.
The commission said the number of complaints, known as charges, filed in the fiscal year that ended 30 September rose more than 12 per cent over the previous year, when it received about 6,700.
The EEOC said it had filed 41 lawsuits including sexual harassment claims against employers over the past year, a 50 per cent increase over fiscal year 2017.
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