EEOC's Phoenix, AZ office filed this Title VII lawsuit alleging discrimination based on religious belief against the Defendant Serrano's Mexican Restaurants, LLC. The lawsuit was filed at the United States District Court for the District of Arizona (Phoenix) on 08/20/2002. EEOC alleged on behalf of the former general manager of the restaurant that she was wrongfully discharged because of organizing a bible study group attended by three subordinate employees. The defendant had had a policy prohibiting managers from socializing with staff outside the workplace to prevent sexual harassment and unfair treatment of employees. The individual complainant did not intervene in the lawsuit or file a separate lawsuit.

The parties engaged in lengthy pretrial discovery and motion filing, which lasted for almost three years before a jury trial was finally conducted on 06/07/2005. The trial was presided by District Judge Earl H. Carroll. Judge Carroll denied both parties' oral motion for a directed verdict. The jury came to a verdict for the defendant on the sixth day of the trial. Thereafter, Judge Carroll denied EEOC's motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law but granted its motion for a new trial.

The defendant filed an interlocutory appeal on the grant of the new trial but the appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeals. Soon after the case returned to the district court, Judge Carroll recused himself from the case for unlisted reasons. Judge Frederick J. Martone who was reassigned to the case vacated the previous order granting a new trial and reinstated the jury verdict for the defendant. The case was quickly dismissed in pursuant to the jury verdict on 02/21/2007. Judge Martone denied EEOC's motion for reconsidering the reinstatement of the jury verdict.

Justin Kanter - 08/12/2007


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