Race Discrimination Lawsuit: Rosebud Restaurants Settled, Paying $1.9 Million

In a race discrimination lawsuit, the EEOC sued Rosebud Restaurants and parties settled for the amount of $1.9 million.

The EEOC brought a lawsuit against Rosebud, which operates 13 Italian restaurants in Chicago and nearby suburbs.  The restaurants were not hiring African Americans, and restaurant managers and the Rosebud owner Alex Dana used racial slurs when referring to African Americans. When the EEOC started investigating, a number of the restaurants had not hired any African American employees at all. In addition, Rosebud failed to maintain employment applications for one year, which violated federal law. The restaurants also failed to file employer information reports, which would contain information such employment by job category, race, ethnicity and gender.

Before taking legal action, the EEOC first attempted to use its conciliation process to resolve the issue. When a settlement could not be reached, it filed a lawsuit for racial discrimination in hiring based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Outcome of the Race Discrimination Lawsuit

Details of the settlement include:

• African American applicants who were denied jobs will receive $1.9 million from Rosebud.
• Rosebud now has hiring goals for qualified African American job applicants, including that 11% of future employees will be black.
• The settlement decree prohibits Rosebud from engaging in future racial discrimination or retaliation
• Rosebud must recruit African American applicants
• Rosebud must train managers and employees against race discrimination and retaliation
• For four years, Rosebud must periodically submit reports to the EEOC that show compliance with the settlement decree’s terms
• Rosebud must post notices that inform employees about the decree’s terms

The parties were able to resolve the lawsuit through lengthy negotiations. The negotiations occurred prior to depositions and significant pre-trial motions that could have resulted in considerable litigation costs.

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If you face employment issues such as discrimination or wage and hour disputes, Stephen Hans & Associates can provide you with seasoned legal representation based on more than 20 years of employment law practice experience.