EEOC Lawsuit Challenges Sexual Harassment and Retaliation at North Dakota Applebee’s

BISMARCK, N.D. – The Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar – Bismarck South, owned and operated by Apple Core, Inc. and Food Management Investors, Inc. (FMI), allegedly violated federal civil rights laws by permitting a former store general manager to create a pattern and practice of sexual harassment and retaliation against employees according to a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The EEOC’s complaint specifically alleges that between 2002 and the end of 2007, the general manager of Bismarck South Applebee’s routinely groped female employees, solicited sexual relations, told sexually explicit stories and jokes and made highly personalized sexual comments designed to demean and humiliate female employees. The EEOC’s investigation indicated that on at least one occasion, the harasser coerced an employee into giving him oral sex in exchange for a raise. Additionally, the EEOC’s complaint alleges that the manager systematically retaliated against female employees who rebuffed his sexual advances, and retaliated against both female and male employees who complained about his behavior.

The EEOC’s suit was docketed before Judge Daniel L. Hovland in the Southwestern Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Apple Core, Inc. and Food Management Investors, Inc. d/b/a Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar; Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-00048 DLH/CSM) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement out of court through its conciliation process.

In this case, the EEOC is seeking injunctive relief that will require Apple Core/FMI to adopt an effective sexual harassment prevention policy that complies with federal law and will seek back pay, compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of the charging parties and a class of approximately 20 former employees of the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar – Bismarck South.

The EEOC’s lawsuit stems from charges of discrimination that were filed by five former employees of the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar – Bismarck South, located at 434 South 3rd Street in Bismarck.