ENCINITAS, Calif. – Swami’s Café and Honey’s Bistro, a chain of casual counter and table-service restaurants, violated federal law by allowing a class of female employees to be subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, beginning as early as 2019, nine locations of the San Diego-based Swami’s Café and Honey’s Bistro allowed a class of young female employees, including some teenagers, to be subjected to sexual harassment by male supervisors and co-workers. The harassment included repeated, frequent, and offensive sex-based remarks and advances, as well as unwelcome touching. Swami’s Café and Honey’s Bistro did not properly monitor the workplace, which left the employees vulnerable to ongoing harassment. Female employees who complained were retaliated against or forced to quit their jobs, the EEOC further alleges in its lawsuit.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits a hostile workplace environment based on sex, including sexual harassment, as well as retaliation against individuals who complain about sexual harassment or engage in other protected activity. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Swami’s 101 LLC, et al., Case No. 3:23-cv-00902-LAB-NLS) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation...
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