NEW YORK — American Glory Restaurant Corp., which owns restaurants in Hudson and Tannersville, has been ordered to pay $65,000 to settle a race harassment and retaliation discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Both local American Glory restaurants are closed.
American Glory on Warren Street in Hudson has been closed for months. American Glory in Tannersville closed its restaurant March 18, 2021, citing the landlord refused to renew its lease after six years in business, according to a post on the restaurant’s website.
The post also suggests there are plans to relocate the Tannersville restaurant on the mountaintop.
American Glory’s owner allegedly “created a racially and sexually hostile work environment and retaliated against an employee who complained about it,” according to a Commission statement Monday.
“The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission takes seriously its responsibility to enforce federal law and hold employers to account,” said Jeffrey Burstein, regional attorney for the New York District Office. “We appreciate American Glory’s recognition of its own responsibility to provide a harassment-free and retaliation-free workplace, including its willingness to engage an independent Equal Employment Opportunity monitor and provide intensive training to its owner, the alleged harasser.”
The lawsuit specifically accused American Glory’s owner and president of repeatedly subjecting Black employees to racist slurs and comments and assigned Black employees to less desirable job duties, according to the federal agency.
On one occasion, according to the Commission, an employee was told such work “was what a Black man should be doing,” and when one of the employees complained, the restaurant drastically cut his hours, forcing him to resign.
The lawsuit further alleged that the owner subjected female employees to sexual harassment including leering, unwanted physical contact and crude sexual comments.
Such alleged conduct is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating based on race and sex, and from retaliating against workers who file complaints about discrimination.
The Commission filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in September 2020, after first attempting to reach a settlement through its conciliation process before the case entered litigation. Trial attorney Renay Oliver and supervisory trial attorney Nora Curtin represented the Commission.
In addition to the $65,000 monetary judgment, the three-year consent order resolving the lawsuit requires American Glory Corp. to provide anti-discrimination and harassment training including intensive interactive training for its owner.
“Company leaders set the tone for their workplace culture, and when they actively engage in harassment, their companies can be held strictly liable,” New York District Director Judy Keenan said.
The order also calls for an independent monitor to visit the restaurants on a regular basis, receive and investigate complaints of discrimination and retaliation, and report the incidents to the Commission.
Under the consent order, American Glory agreed not to rehire managers who participated in the harassment, according to the Commission. American Glory’s compliance with the order will be monitored for the next three years.