Question

Work place discrimination and misconduct can occur in many different ways. There can be racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and other forms of personal discrimination. “A Chili's restaurant in Canon City, Colorado, violated federal law by subjecting female employees to sexual harassment and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed” (Worley, 2019) This Chili’s managing partner and assistant manager subjected female servers and hostesses to sexual harassment. The harassment included pervasive sexual comments and innuendo including comments about the female employee’s boyfriends. “The EEOC alleges that the restaurant failed to take preventative or corrective action when employees complained about the harassment and that some women who could not tolerate the harassment were forced to resign”. (EEOC, 2019). The women felt very uncomfortable and many resigned from working there as a result.

   One form of discriminatory practice that occurred was that Chili’s management was accused of retaliating against some of the female employees who complained, including reducing their hours, according to the lawsuit. By reducing the hours of the employees, it forced them to keep quiet about the issues at hand in order to earn a living by having their hours go back to normal. It is a clear indication that these managers used intimation and retaliation as a means to keep the female employees hush about the harassment they were dealing with. Not only were these women being harassed and mistreated by management, they were not protected by their management. The management had an exact opposite response by threatening the women with being removed from their regular schedule.

As of right now the case is just reaching the court systems. The lawsuit being filed by the EEOC asks the court to order Chili's to provide all the affected women with appropriate relief. This lawsuit includes back wages for those forced to resign; compensatory and punitive damages; “and a permanent injunction enjoining the company from engaging in any further discriminatory practice based on sex”. (EEOC, 2019) It is clear that the EEOC wants Chili’s to give these female employee their lost wages as well as punitive damages for the mental and physical toll placed on them from facing sexual harassment.

   The challenges faced by managers regarding discrimination are being able to recognize that discrimination is occurring, appropriately responding, and taking necessary action to ensure it not only is stopped but prevented from future situations. In this case not only was management the perpetrators; they also used retaliation as their means of response to the sexual harassment. This management at Canon City, Colorado allowed for employees to harass the female employees but forced undue hardship on them if the women spoke up. This type of behavior by management is not only unacceptable; it shows a complete inability to deal with discrimination in the workplace. These managers failed tremendously at protecting their employees and providing a safe work place.

So, what happens to the managers? Who created this culture? Why didn't the greater company's oversight better prepare for this issue? Just ask'n...

I wonder what the greater Chili's org did after this case? What would you have done as the Chili's CEO? What actions would you take?

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Answer 1

Sexual harassment at work place is a type of work place discrimination which is gender based. it includes verbal, non verbal conduct which is not acceptable and may also include physical conduct of sexual nature, which affects the working conditions. in the above case at Chili's restaurant at Canon city the female workers are facing sexual harassment and retaliation, which is making work condition difficult for them. sexual harassment affects the working condition as well as it makes the work environment hostile, but the managers at Chili's restaurant are subjecting female workers to such harassment just to satisfy their male ego and other male workers. they are welcoming such culture because they know that the female workers don't have any choice but to accept it in order to earn their living and if someone opposes then the manager has the power to terminate their services. The company was not able to prepare itself for this issue because they never expected such thing will happen at their organization. because every company makes the rules and regulation clear to every employee at their joining itself which includes code of conduct and non acceptance of work place discrimination and any misconduct including sexual harassment.

As a CEO of Chili's restaurant i would strict action about the case as soon as it came to my notice. first of all i will terminate the services of the managers who welcomed such culture in the organization, people who supported such culture needs also be terminated. i will re appoint all the female workers who were suspended from the job and make them feel comfortable to discuss their problems with me. apart from it i will make a department including female staff to look into the matter and assign them the responsibility to ensure that no such events takes place in future. i will also make new strict rules for workplace management and any violation of these rules will lead to severe consequences. by making all these things clear i will ensure good and harassment free work culture.