H2H Enterprises Inc., a management company that owns three Huddle House restaurants in Pine Bluff, White Hall and El Dorado, has paid $15,000 to resolve a federal lawsuit accusing top managers of regularly subjecting a black employee at the Pine Bluff restaurant to racial slurs.
The lawsuit was brought last year by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which alleged that H2H's senior vice president of operations and its regional manager made the derogatory remarks when they visited Huddle House No. 670.
Other employees also witnessed the managers' use of racial slurs in the restaurant, the EEOC said in a news release issued Thursday announcing the settlement. The EEOC said that when the targeted employee complained, the management company "failed to take any action or address the complaint."
After a failed effort to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process, the federal agency filed suit in the Pine Bluff division of federal court alleging that the conduct violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In addition to the $15,000 compensation, the settlement imposes a two-year consent decree preventing the management company from subjecting employees to a racially hostile environment in the future or retaliating against any employee who reports allegations of racial harassment. The decree also requires H2H to provide training about racial harassment, maintain records of any complaints of racial harassment and provide annual reports to the EEOC.
"The use of racially offensive and derogatory slurs in the workplace is not only inappropriate and morally reprehensible, it is unlawful," said Faye Williams, regional attorney for the agency's Memphis District Office, which serves Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi. "Employers can never ignore such behavior, especially when an employee has brought such behavior to the employer's attention."
She added, "In this case, we are pleased that H2H chose to resolve this matter quickly without protracted litigation."
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.
Metro on 05/23/2015