New Jersey employees have a right to be free from a hostile work environment. Employers must comply with state and federal laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and ensure that their workers are not exposed to sexual harassment. Some employers, however, fail to respond adequately to employee complaints of inappropriate behavior and allow it to continue. Others may even retaliate against employees who bring the matter to the attention of management.

Such were the allegations leveled against Missoula Mac, Inc., a company that owned and operated 25 McDonald’s fast-food restaurants in Wisconsin. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on the employees’ behalf, which Missoula Mac recently agreed to settle for $1 million. The company must also take steps to prevent harassment from occurring at its locations in the future.

The company’s female employees frequently complained of inappropriate remarks and unwelcome sexual behavior. In particular, a number of male workers would touch the female employees in inappropriate areas and force kisses upon them. After the harassment victims informed management, the company wrongfully terminated a few of them. In addition, when Missoula Mac did not act to remedy the hostile work environment, another female employee resigned.

Under the terms of the settlement, the company must train its employees to spot sexual harassment and give harassment victims the ability to report complaints through e-mail or phone. It will have to keep a record of all complaints, and to create an incentive for higher-ups to keep workplaces free from harassment, managers’ evaluations will be partially tied to how well the company adheres to all harassment laws.

Unfortunately, according to one EEOC attorney, sexual harassment is ingrained in restaurant culture across the country. As this settlement indicates, however, the law is squarely on the side of harassment victims and will work to ensure that no one should have to suffer in a hostile work environment.

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Owner of 25 McDonald’s Restaurants to Pay $1 Million in EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit,” July 18, 2012.