Nearly everybody in New Jersey has probably eaten at a Burger King restaurant at one time or another. Some young teenagers have earned their first paycheck working for the company. A first job can be a source of pride and accomplishment, but for one 17-year-old girl who began working at a Burger King restaurant, her first job was filled only with humiliation and sexual harassment.

According to a recently settled lawsuit against Kaizen Restaurants, Inc., the franchisee that ran the restaurant, the girl’s manager subjected her to a hostile work environment by making constant unwelcome sexual advances. Specific examples included asking that she engage in sexual intercourse with him and pursuing her into the restaurant’s parking lot when she went on break.

This pattern of behavior went on for two years. When she reported the manager to his superiors, the company did nothing. Fearing for her own well-being, the female employee resigned from the job.

She then brought the manager’s and the company’s conduct to the attention of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed a lawsuit on her behalf. Under the terms of the settlement, the restaurant franchisee must train employees and supervisors on avoiding sexual harassment and enact a new policy for dealing with complaints. In addition, Kaizen Restaurants must pay the victim $150,000.

Although sexual harassment can be intimidating, victims should know that state and federal laws are squarely on their side. In particular, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. One EEOC attorney warned employers that they “will be held liable for the mistreatment of their employees by their managers.”

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Burger King Franchisee Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit,” April 17, 2012.