Suit settled
A sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Nevada Restaurant Services (NRS) has finally been resolved via a $1.2m settlement.
The EEOC filed the suit against the holding company of the Dotty’s chain of gaming taverns in 2023.
deter and respond to incidents of sexual harassment”
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Commission announced the settlement on Tuesday, stating NRS also agreed to “implement additional measures to deter and respond to incidents of sexual harassment.”
NRS owns approximately 175 Dotty’s across multiple US states including Nevada, Oregon, and Montana, in addition to the Laughlin River Lodge casino-hotel, and the Bourbon Street and Red Dragon franchises.
The EEOC’s lawsuit claimed that as far back as 2018, male and female staff working for NRS subsidiaries endured “verbal and physical sexual harassment by co-workers and supervisors.”
Hostile environment
The federal body’s lawsuit alleged that NRS was aware of the harassment yet failed to effectively address the complaints.
The result was “adverse working conditions in which some employees felt they had no choice but to resign” from unnamed subsidiaries of the Las Vegas-based gaming and hospitality giant.
The EEOC filed the lawsuit in a US District Court in NRS’ home state of Nevada in 2023 alleging: “ongoing, unwelcome, severe, and pervasive sexual harassment, and creating and maintaining an offensive, abusive, intimidating and hostile work environment because of sex.”
attempted to rape a 19-year-old
On Tuesday, the Review-Journal cited court documents referencing harassment at Laughlin River Lodge. Here, male staff “subjected female employees to unwanted physical sexual advances,” attempted to rape a 19-year-old, groped female employees, and stalked them “outside the workplace.”
Male employees were also accused of trapping female staff “in tight spaces within the workplace such as walk-in refrigerators or locked hotel rooms in order to make unwanted sexual advances.”
Payback time
According to reports, the settlement decree triggers a process in which NRS ex-employees and current staff can file claims to share the $1.2m, with those subjected to sexual harassment between 2019 to the present potentially eligible for a payout.
Regional Attorney for the Los Angeles District Office of the EEOC Anna Park commended NRS for its cooperation in the “early resolution” of the suit.
ensure that their workers are protected from sexual harassment”
Park added it was “imperative that employers take great care to ensure that their workers are protected from sexual harassment by having effective policies and procedures and hold managers and supervisors accountable for worker safety.”
