Landry’s Seafood House to Pay $90,000 in EEOC National Origin Harassment Lawsuit

DENVER – National restaurant chain Landry’s Seafood House will pay $90,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle a national origin harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, Landry’s employees, including managers and supervisors, regularly and openly mocked an Iranian employee’s accent, criticized her physical appearance by making comments like “nobody wants to see your hairy back,” and treated her differently than non-Iranian employees in ways that negatively impacted her and her pay. After the employee raised complaints about the harassment with the restaurant’s general manger and twice complained to Landry’s human resources department, Landry’s failed to stop the harassment and discharged the employee for allegedly violating a policy the company did not equally enforce amongst its employees.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits national origin harassment and retaliation. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Landry’s Seafood House – Colorado, Inc. d/b/a Saltgrass CO, Inc. f/k/a Landry’s Seafood House, Landry’s, LLC d/b/a/ Landry’s Inc., and Landry’s Management, L.P., Case No. 1:23-cv-02463-NRN) in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

In addition to the monetary relief, the consent decree settling the suit requires Landry’s to review and revise its harassment and retaliation policies; train employees and managers on national origin harassment, retaliation, and Title VII; and provide reports of training, complaints, and policy modifications.

“Regardless of their country of origin, workers need to be treated equally in the workplace and employers have an obligation to protect their employees from harassment,” said Mary O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office. “We are pleased Landry’s decided to work cooperatively with the EEOC to resolve the case, and we will keep enforcing federal laws against national origin harassment and retaliation.”

The EEOC’s Phoenix District Director Melinda Caraballo said, “Unfortunately, employers continue to retaliate against employees who complain about harassment, even when the employee complains through formal channels like human resources. Addressing retaliation is critical, as more than half the charges the EEOC receives allege retaliation.”

For more information on national origin discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination. For more information on harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and parts of New Mexico.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.