EEOC right-to-sue notices return, settlements continue in North Carolina

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) temporarily stopped issuing right-to-sue notices on charges that had been filed. The pause was recently lifted, and the notices are coming out again. The pause didn’t apply to resolutions of EEOC litigation, and we’ve recently seen some new settlements of cases filed by the agency in North Carolina. They shed light on the types of cases the agency is pursuing and the resolutions they are achieving.

Fast-food harassment

Par Ventures, Inc., a North Carolina corporation that operates a chain of seven McDonald’s fast-food restaurants, will pay $12,500 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The agency had charged the company with violating federal law when it subjected a teenaged female employee to a sexually hostile work environment.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a male “people manager” at Par Ventures’ Parmlee Drive McDonald’s in Fayetteville sexually harassed the employee, who was only 16 years old at the time. The agency claimed she was subjected to sexual comments, sexual requests, and unwanted touching from her male supervisor. The complaint alleged the supervisor offered her money for nude pictures of herself, asked her explicit sexual questions, and ultimately sexually assaulted her.

In addition to a payment of $12,500 in monetary relief for the alleged discrimination victim, the parties entered into a five-year consent decree settling the lawsuit that requires Par Ventures to: