Gay waiter harassed by co-workers gets $20,000 in compensation
El Tio Tex-Mex Grill was ordered to payout $40,000 to the waiter and his straight friend. (El Tio Tex-Mex Grill/ Facebook)
A gay restaurant employee will receive $20,000 in compensation after he was subjected to repeated homophobic discrimination by his co-workers.
The waiter’s co-workers would regularly harass him with homophobic slurs and would taunt him about his orientation, and he filed a lawsuit in September 2018.
The settlement ordered by a federal judge on Thursday (August 8) between the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and El Tio Tex-Mex Grill in Virginia was $40,000.
The money is to be shared between the waiter and another employee, who is straight but was harassed just for associating with him.
According to AP News, as well as the payout the settlement includes banning the restaurant from condoning or engaging in harassment based on sexual orientation.
Currently Virginia state law only prohibits anti-LGBT discrimination against government employees.
According to Instinct Magazine, EEOC regional attorney Debra Lawrence said: “The EEOC is committed to ensuring that no employee or applicant is discriminated against or harassed based on sexual orientation.
“We are gratified that El Tio worked with the EEOC to reach an amicable resolution of this lawsuit.
“The consent decree includes significant equitable relief that will benefit all company employees.”
The acting director of the FBI Washington Field Office, Mindy Weinstein, also told Instinct: “We commend these employees who bravely stood up for what is right and changed this workplace for the better as a result.”
In June, another payout was given to a waiter in New Jersey on grounds of homophobic discrimination.
Another waiter who was harassed said his work situation was “unbearable”
In June, another gay waiter also received a large settlement from a diner in New Jersey, where his co-workers “would continuously refer to complainant as ‘faggot,’ ‘stupid faggot’ and other derogatory remarks related to his sexual orientation.”
He said that “the situation at work was so unbearable, that he felt he had no choice but to resign.”
