Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—Employers agree to pay $1.45M to resolve sex discrimination claims, (Feb 13, 2026)

By George Basharis, J.D.

Settlements resolve a sexual harassment case against a Colorado agribusiness and a sex-based hiring suit against a multistate restaurant chain.

The EEOC has secured more than $1.45 million to resolve two Title VII cases, one involving allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation at a Colorado agribusiness and another challenging a restaurant chain’s alleged refusal to hire male applicants for front-of-house positions across three states. The settlements also include injunctive measures, policy reforms, and multi-year compliance obligations.

Sexual harassment and retaliation at Colorado farms. Midwest Farms, LLC and Midwest Capital Services, LLC, which operate several farms in rural Colorado, agreed to pay $334,500 and provide injunctive relief to settle a lawsuit alleging that female farmworkers were subjected to ongoing sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Title VII.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, a male employee repeatedly made sexual comments, propositioned female workers for sex, and attempted to hug, touch, and grab them without consent. The agency further alleged that a male farm manager entered the women’s dressing room without knocking on at least three occasions while employees were undressed or undressing.

The EEOC contended that despite multiple complaints, the companies failed for several years to take corrective action. The agency also alleged retaliation against at least one female employee, whose hours were docked after she reported harassment. That employee later resigned, citing intolerable working conditions.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said the case “illustrates how women have privacy and safety interests that warrant single-sex facilities at work, such as dressing rooms,” adding that the agency “remains committed to protecting women and their sex-based rights in every workplace.”

Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, emphasized the employer’s obligation to act promptly. “Employers must protect their employees against sexual harassment occurring in the workplace,” she said. “It is essential for employers to respond promptly and adequately to their employees’ complaints of sexual harassment by investigating, addressing and stopping sexual harassment.”

In addition to monetary relief, a three-year consent decree requires Midwest Farms to issue letters of regret to the affected employees. The company’s managing agent must review and revise harassment policies, provide training to employees and managers on sexual harassment and Title VII compliance, and submit reports to the EEOC regarding training, complaints, and policy modifications.

Phoenix District Director Melinda Caraballo noted that agricultural workers may be particularly vulnerable. She also underscored the agency’s focus on retaliation claims, which constitute more than half of the charges the EEOC receives.

The EEOC filed the case in the District of Colorado; the case is No. 23-cv-02531-PAB-MDB.

Alleged refusal to hire men at Kickback Jack’s. Battleground Restaurants, Inc. and Battleground Restaurant Group, Inc., which operate Kickback Jack’s restaurants in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, will pay $1,111,300 to a class of male applicants to resolve a sex-based hiring discrimination case brought in North Carolina. The three-year consent decree also requires the companies to undertake significant compliance measures.

The EEOC alleged that beginning in at least December 2019, the restaurant chain systematically refused or failed to hire men for non-managerial front-of-house roles, including server, bartender, and host positions. Between December 1, 2019, and February 18, 2022, approximately three percent of more than 2,100 employees in those positions at 19 locations were male, and some restaurants had no male servers at all. The agency asserted that the companies lacked any legitimate business justification for the hiring pattern and failed to comply with Title VII recordkeeping requirements.

“Hiring must be based on merit—not sex—as Title VII requires,” Chair Lucas said, adding that the EEOC is committed to evenhanded enforcement regardless of whether the aggrieved applicants are women or men.

Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District, cautioned that both overt and subtle forms of sex-based hiring practices violate federal law. She noted that steering or encouraging applicants into certain roles based on protected status is unlawful.

The consent decree enjoins the companies from discriminating against qualified male applicants, steering applicants based on sex, or disposing of employment application records. The restaurant group must adopt and revise policies prohibiting sex discrimination, ensure that hiring decisions are made without regard to sex, offer interviews to qualified applicants for open positions, and include images of male servers in promotional materials depicting front-of-house employees. The decree also requires annual Title VII training for hiring personnel and periodic reporting to the EEOC.

Joshua Kadel, the EEOC trial attorney who led the case, observed that hiring discrimination claims can be difficult to detect because recruitment practices are often opaque, and applicants may not know they were denied employment for unlawful reasons.

Male applicants who sought server, host, or bartender positions at the defendants’ restaurants in North Carolina, Tennessee, or Virginia but were not hired, or were hired into different roles, may be eligible for relief under the settlement and are encouraged by the agency to contact the EEOC.

The case was filed in the Middle District of North Carolina, Greensboro Division; the case is No. 1:24-cv-00792.

Companies: Kickback Jack’s; Battleground Restaurants, Inc.; Battleground Restaurant Group, Inc.; Midwest Farms, LLC; Midwest Capital Services, LLC

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