The Case Of EEOC V. Management Hospitality Of Rancine

In the case of EEOC v. Management Hospitality of Rancine, Katrina Shisler and Michelle Powell, who were servants at an International House of Pancakes restaurant franchise in Rancine, Wisconsin, alleged that they were sexually harassed by an assistant manager Rosalio Gutierrez. The restaurant franchise was owned by Management Hospitality of Rancine, Inc. (MHR). During the servants’ time of employment, both women made claims that they were subjected to frequent sexually explicit comments, gestures and innuendos on the job. Shisler reported the behavior to another assistant manager, Nadia Del Rio; however, she blew off the claims. Shisler and Powell then reported Gutierrez’s behavior to general manager, Michelle Dahl, who also dismissed their claims. On behalf of Shisler and Powell, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued MHR alleging that Gutierrez created a hostile work environment; therefore, they were liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A jury ruled in favor of the two women; however, MHR appealed the ruling with the argument that it was not liable, because it had taken acceptable corrective and preventative measurements with regards to the harassment.

This harassment occurred in the form of comments, physical touching and verbal propositions that were considered severe and pervasive. As an outcome, the appeals court upheld the jury’s verdict that the employer allowed employees to be sexually harassed in violation of Title VII. MHR was required to adopt a new anti-harassment policy and punitive damages were mandated and reduced from the original amount of $100,000 to the amount of $50,000 because the employer had less than 100