Former server says the company relocated the manager - then made her the problem
Move the manager, not the problem - and, one former server says, a lawsuit follows.
A former server has sued First Watch Restaurants, claiming the company brushed aside her sexual-harassment complaints, moved her manager to another store instead of firing him, and then made her the target. The complaint was filed June 19, 2026, in federal court in Illinois.
Alexus Stallworth worked as a server at the First Watch in Geneva, Illinois, from about August 2023 until July 6, 2024, according to the filing. She says her back-of-house manager - described only as "an individual believed to be named Cristo" - started with unwanted compliments, telling her she was beautiful and that he wanted her to be his wife. He is not a defendant. The only defendant is First Watch Restaurants, Inc.
The complaint says the conduct worsened in early 2024, with remarks about her appearance and how she looked in her clothes. It alleges the same manager directed similar conduct at other women on staff and, on multiple occasions, "attempted to push the head of an employee believed to be named Alyssa into an ice bin."
This is where it gets instructive for anyone who runs an HR function. Stallworth says she raised the issue again and again - to a vice president, a director of operations, a general manager, and a front-of-house manager - complaining "at least ten times," according to the filing. In May 2024, she says she and...
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