Burger King

In 2005 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of about 511 current and former workers at about half of the 351 Burger Kings run by franchisee Carrols Corp. This is the biggest sexual harassment suit ever filed by the agency. Most of the alleged victims are girls or women. According to the suit female employees tell of managers or co-workers hugging and kissing them or fondling their breasts or buttocks. Some supervisors made suggestive or vulgar comments to female workers; others pressured them to have sex, or go out on dates, according to court records. At least one co-worker allegedly exposed himself to a female employee. Sometimes, Carrols' management fired or suspended offenders. In other cases, victims' complaints to managers resulted in little or no action, according to court records. A federal judge ruled against plaintiffs in the case, however the EEOC issued a statement saying it felt the court was incorrect in its decision.

In February 2005 the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Burger King on behalf of a 16 year-old former employee who claimed she was fired after refusing the store manager's repeated requests for sex. According to the lawsuit, the teenager started working at a Milwaukee Burger King in January 2003, and refused the store manager's requests for sex. In September 2003 she was fired after making plans to complain about the harassment to some of the company's managers who were scheduled to visit the restaurant, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit seeks a court order reinstating Merriweather to her job, back pay and compensatory and punitive damages up to $300,000, said Jean Kamp, an EEOC attorney. The manager who fired Merriweather is in his mid-30s and still works at the restaurant, Kamp said.

In December 2004 the EEOC announced a $400,000 settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit against a Burger King franchise in St. Louis County. The EEOC charged that seven young women had been subjected to repeated groping, vulgar sexual comments, and demands for sex. When the company failed to resolve their complaints, the women turned to the EEOC. A consent decree requires franchise owners to pay damages and fees, and to not rehire Nathan Kraus, the store manager accused of the sexual harassment. Burger King also must conduct sexual harassment training for management, distribute a revised sexual harassment policy, and more prominently post in its restaurants a hot line number for reporting harassment.