Applebee's Sued By The EEOC For Racial Slurs

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Applebee’s, the latest employer to be sued over race and sexual orientation discrimination.

Just over a year since the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia stating that the protection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes those individuals who are discriminated in the workplace based on their sexual orientation, another lawsuit has occurred.

An Applebee’s employee out of Plant City, Florida brought up allegations of violations of the aforementioned Civil Rights act.   It was stated that he was subjected to discrimination based on his race and sexual orientation.  The complaints include fellow employees using anti-gay and racist epithets, wearing Confederate flag paraphernalia and saying racial and homophobic slurs. When the employee complained, he was told to just ignore it.  His hours were drastically cut back and he was forced to quit because of the mistreatment.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), who is handling the case, encourages employers to quickly take action and stop discrimination behavior in the workplace once they learn about it.  All too often, instead of stopping the discrimination, the employer makes a bad situation worse and retaliates against the victim.  These employers will be held accountable for their actions.

Events like this are avoidable. With skilled sexual harassment prevention training and properly-crafted anti-harassment policies, management should ensure workers correctly report and managers properly investigate, document and resolve various forms of unlawful harassment, discrimination and retaliation.