Bojangles sued by EEOC over female worker claims of sexual harassment and retaliation
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Charlotte-based Bojangles, saying it violated federal law after a female worker was sexually harassed, then transferred and denied promotions in retaliation for complaining about the harassment.
The fast-food chicken and biscuit chain subjected the employee at a Greensboro store to a sexually hostile work environment and then retaliated against her, the EEOC claimed in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
From March to June 2020, “the restaurant’s general manager made numerous sexual remarks to the employee and inappropriately touched and grabbed the employee,” according to the suit. Then, after complaining about it, the EEOC said the worker was denied management training and transferred to another store as retaliation.
“Retaliation against employees who report sexual harassment cannot be tolerated,” Melinda Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District, said in a statement.
The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages for the employee, as well as additional relief to prevent future harassment and retaliation in the workplace.
Bojangles does not comment on pending litigation, the company said Thursday in a statement to The Charlotte Observer.
“We just learned of the lawsuit filed by the EEOC and will review it carefully,” the company said. “Bojangles is committed to preventing and eliminating misconduct, including all forms of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.”
Bojangles was founded in 1977 in Charlotte, and has more than 760 restaurants throughout the Southeast. In 2019, the chain was sold to two New York firms, Durational Capital Management and The Jordan Co.
The new harassment complaints against Bojangles
The woman at the center of the lawsuit was hired in March 2020 to work at the Bojangles store at 4409 Landover Road, according to the EEOC’s lawsuit.
Her general manager made many sexually harassing comments, including wanting “to have sex with her,” the EEOC stated in its suit.
In April, the worker complained about the harassment to another supervisor but no action was taken, according to the suit.
Then in May 2020, “the general manager grabbed (her) buttocks and touched her breasts,” the lawsuit stated.
After complaining to a different supervisor about the sexual harassment, the worker was told “she would be required to transfer to a different restaurant location,” which was farther from her home.
An area director then told her “to not tell anyone what had occurred at the Greensboro restaurant,” according to the suit.
The worker was then excluded from a manager’s training program in retaliation for her complaints, according to the EEOC complaint.
Her last day working at Bojangles was June 10, 2020.
Other harassment claims against Bojangles
Bojangles has faced prior claims of sexual harassment and retaliation.
In 2019, a former Bojangles manager in North Carolina sued over sexual harassment at the fast-food chain, alleging her supervisor touched her inappropriately, which included “uncomfortably close hug(s).” The case was dismissed in July 2021, court documents show.
In 2017, the chain was ordered to pay $15,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit from a transgender former employee at a Fayetteville store. The worker, who identifies and presents as a woman, was subjected to “derogatory and humiliating” comments from her bosses.
In 2012, Bojangles paid over $33,000 to a Greensboro employee who said she was sexually harassed and then fired for complaining about it. According to the settlement, the employee’s boss repeatedly asked for sexual favors, including oral sex in exchange for time off.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Bojangles sued by EEOC over female worker claims of sexual harassment and retaliation."