Sexually Harassed Woman Obtains Settlement Against Restaurant

Winer, McKenna, Burritt & Tillis LLP represented a 21 year old woman working as a cashier at a restaurant who alleged she was sexually harassed by one of her supervisors. Her supervisor made sexual comments to her but worse still, repeatedly hugged her, slapped her buttocks, and one two occasions while attempting to hug her he touched her breasts. The defense alleged that the employee was complaining not because of sexual harassment, but because this supervisor criticized her work and that she was generally a bad employee, and not a credible witness. They further alleged that once the Plaintiff complained, they investigated and gave the supervisor a warning. However, Winer, McKenna, & Burritt were able to obtain a settlement for the Plaintiff by demonstrating that since some of the Plaintiff’s complaints were substantiated by their own investigation, she must have credibility, and stronger discipline should have been taken. Further, employees should have been prevented from later giving the Plaintiff a hard time for complaining about her supervisor, who many of the other employees liked.