Cajun Eateries Settle Charges of Discrimination Against Males

May 9, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Razzoo's, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based Cajun food restaurant chain, has agreed to pay $1 million and furnish significant remedial relief to settle charges of gender discrimination brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

An EEOC announcement said it charged Razzoo’s with discriminating against a class of male applicants and employees for refusing to hire or promote men to the position of bartender in its restaurants. Razzoo’s management set up and communicated to managers by e-mail a plan for an 80-20 ratio of women to men behind the bar, the EEOC said.

Managers told male applicants and servers Razzoo’s wanted mostly “girls” behind the bar. Men who worked as servers at the restaurants were generally denied promotion to bartender because of their gender, and the few who were promoted to bartender were not allowed to work lucrative “girls-only” bar­tend­ing events, the announcement said.

Razzoo’s agreed to pay $775,000 to be divided among a class of male applicants, male servers, and male bartenders who were discriminated against, and agreed to spend no less than $225,000 to retain the services of a human resources consultant or to develop an in-house human resources department.

In addition, Razzoo’s agreed to injunctive relief requiring training on equal employment opportunity for all employees, the posting of an anti-discrimination notice, and EEOC monitoring of employee complaints of discrimination.

Razzoo’s operates 11 Cajun food restaurants throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolis, in Houston, and in Concord, N.C.

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