• 30
  • September
    2011

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission exists to help ensure individuals receive the treatment they deserve when they are working. Companies that fail to treat their employees with the respect that they deserve can face lawsuits, and that is exactly what one of the nation's oldest restaurants is facing.

IHOP has more than 100 locations in California and more than 1,000 restaurants across the country. However, they are also facing a lawsuit from the EEOC for sexual harassment.

The EEOC filed a lawsuit earlier this week claiming that the general manager of several restaurants was sexually harassing women and teenagers who worked at six IHOP restaurants in the area. When the complaints were made known, the manager was transferred between several branch locations. However, the same complaints were continually raised.

Several of the women who are represented in the lawsuit said they were forced to resign because they could not tolerate the harassment. The lawsuit claims that the general manager "subjected them to pervasive sexual comments, innuendo, and unwelcome touching or attempted touching." When the harassment did not stop, the restaurant turned into a hostile work environment.

The women who are represented in the lawsuit are seeking lost wages and damages. To help ensure other people are not subjected to the same treatment, they are also seeking injunctive relief to prevent discrimination in the future.

IHOP's parent company is based in California, though the company declined to comment on the pending lawsuit. At this point, complaints have not been filed against the restaurants in California.

Source: Nation's Restaurant News, "IHOP sued by EEOC for sexual harassment," Lisa Jennings, Sept. 28, 2011