Michigan Taco Bell Franchises Sued for Sexual Harassment

Six related entities operating Taco Bell restaurants in Michigan violated federal law when they allowed a senior area manager to sexually harass female employees, including multiple teenage employees, he supervised, and fired a local assistant manager the same day she reported the senior area manager’s misconduct, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, for months, the upper-level manager sexually harassed female employees, including underage employees, on a near-daily basis at multiple Taco Bell restaurants he supervised. The harassment included inappropriate sexual comments, such as asking if underage employees were sexually active, asking an employee if she would give him “sugar” when she turned 18, unwanted and inappropriate touching of females under age 18, and asking an assistant manager for videos or images of her having sex with her boyfriend.

The defendants failed to take effective action against the senior manager, despite receiving multiple complaints from different employees, supervisors and managers. On the same day a local assistant manager complained of the senior area manager’s sexual harassment, she was fired. After that complaint, the senior area manager continued to sexually harass female employees for several months until he was eventually fired.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation for reporting sex discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Teamlyders, LLC et al., Case No. 25-10575) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Michigan