Carrols settles sexual-harassment litigation

SYRACUSE  —  Carrols Corp. has agreed to settle sexual-harassment litigation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that dates back to 1998.

Carrols, a subsidiary of the Syracuse–based Burger King franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TAST), will make a total of $2.5 million in payments to 89 claimants. It also agreed to strengthen some of its anti-harassment policies and training — and to report to the EEOC on its efforts over two years.

However, the agreement, which is still subject to court approval, is set to resolve the litigation without Carrols acknowledging any wrongdoing.

“We unequivocally do not tolerate sexual harassment in our workplace and have resolved this litigation without any admission of wrongdoing after many years of intensive, costly, and frustrating litigation with the EEOC,” Carrols Restaurant Group CEO Daniel Accordino said in a news release.

“We agreed to this negotiated settlement at this stage of the litigation simply because the settlement payment we’ve agreed to make is far less than the cost and expense we would incur to continue to litigate each of the remaining individual claims to conclusion given the age of the claims and because hundreds of potential witnesses were now, after 14 years, in scattered locations across the country, ill, or deceased,” he said. “Our agreement with the EEOC to continue, and in limited circumstances enhance, our best practices on harassment prevention and training confirms our commitment to providing a workplace with equal opportunity and free from sexual harassment.”

The EEOC started litigation in 1998, alleging that Carrols had violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by subjecting female employees to sexual harassment. It sought class action for 90,000 employees by claiming Carrols had a “pattern or practice” at restaurants in 13 states.

But the “pattern or practice” claims were dismissed in 2005. That left Carrols attempting to resolve individual claims.

Carrols is Burger King Corp.’s largest global franchisee. It had 572 Burger King restaurants as of Dec. 31.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com