• 16
  • December
    2011

The total number of sexual harassment claims asserted by employees working for restaurants may have receded a bit in recent years, but the industry -- nationwide and in California -- remains rife with such allegations. The scrutiny and public awareness of sexual harassment was undoubtedly heightened by the recent widely publicized sexual harassment claims against Republican presidential contender Herman Cain.

Cain was accused of sexually harassing employees while working as the head of the National Restaurant Association approximately a decade ago, and that organization paid cash settlements to two of his female accusers, even though he denied, and continues to deny, their claims.

Federal and state employment discrimination agencies report that sexual harassment claims overall fell 26.3 percent -- from 15,889 in 1997 to 11,717 most recently in 2011.

Those figures, unfortunately, are not broken down by their industry of origin. But an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission audit revealed that 37 percent of the sexual harassment claims filed with the federal agency in 2011 came from the food service industry.

Factors impacting this may include the large amount of turnover in the fast-paced restaurant industry, making it more difficult for management to address problems in the workplace before they get out of hand.

The number of sexual harassment claims filed by men has also risen from 11.6 percent in 1997 to a high of 16.4 percent in 2010, though women still file the vast majority of such complaints.

Source: Restaurant News, "Looking at sexual harassment in the restaurant industry," Ron Ruggless, Dec. 5, 2011