outback steakhouse to pay $19 mil for sex bias against women

[niyad]

Outback Steakhouse to Pay $19 Million for Sex Bias Against Women in 'Glass Ceiling' Suit by EEOC
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 :: Staff infoZine
Consent Decree Includes Online Application System, Creation of Executive HR Position



Denver, CO - infoZine - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $19 million and furnish significant remedial relief to settle a major class lawsuit alleging sex discrimination against thousands of women at hundreds of its corporately-owned restaurants nationwide.

According to the EEOC, Outback discriminated against its female employees with respect to the terms and conditions of employment, and denied women equal opportunities for advancement. The EEOC alleged in the lawsuit that female employees hit a glass ceiling at Outback and could not get promoted to the higher-level profit-sharing management positions in the restaurants. Moreover, the EEOC also alleged that women were denied favorable job assignments, particularly kitchen management experience, which was required for employees to be considered for the top management job in the restaurants.

“There are still too many glass ceilings left to shatter in workplaces throughout corporate America,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The EEOC will continue to bring class lawsuits like this one against employers who engage in gender discrimination on a systemic scale. Hopefully this major settlement will remind employers about the perils of perpetuating promotion practices that keep women from advancing at work.”

The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by the EEOC in September 2006 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (EEOC v. Outback Steakhouse of Florida, Inc., and OS Restaurant Partners, Inc. d/b/a Outback Restaurants, No. 06-cv-01935).In addition to the monetary relief, the settlement, contained in a four-year consent decree signed by Federal Court Judge Christine M. Arguello, requires that Outback:

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http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid... /

niyad

[elocs]

1. Smart minds would reckon that it would have been easier and cheaper to do the right thing

in the first place.

[iamjoy]

2. No One Thinks They'll Get Caught

If you can break the rules and get away with it than it is less expensive than doing the right thing.

added on edit:
I don't endorse this, but I think many corporations operate under this principle - and not just in providing equal opportunity.

[Lorien]

3. And one DUer was insisting just yesterday that this sort of thing NEVER happens

anymore. Must be nice and cozy in that bubble.

[PeaceNikki]

4. I've had that same discussion with a couple others here as well.

Thankfully those 2 aren't here anymore. Unless they're back :\

[davidwparker]

5. K&R

Wow. I try to avoid chain restaurants and support locally-owned, family restaurants.

This give me another reason to avoid this one.