In May 2006, the Little Rock Area Office and Memphis Office of the EEOC filed this lawsuit against Mena SDI, L.L.C. (doing business as Sonic Drive-In) and its holding company, Investments Holding, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, female, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the complaint alleged the defendants subjected the complaining parties to a sexually hostile work environment created by the night manager through language and physical assault and later retaliated following opposition to the practice by removing the complainant from the work schedule, leading to her constructive termination. Following some discovery, the parties settled the lawsuit through a consent decree.

The one-year decree, containing an anti-retaliation clause and an agreement not to discriminate, required the defendant to: make a compliance report, provide EEO training, provide complainants with a neutral recommendation, post and distribute notice of employee rights, and pay $75,000 to be distributed among two individuals.

Daisy Manning - 04/17/2008


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