On August 3, 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought this suit against S.G.T. Cinelli's, Inc., doing business as Cinelli's Restaurant, and its related corporate entity Cinelli's Ristorante, Inc. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ...
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On August 3, 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought this suit against S.G.T. Cinelli's, Inc., doing business as Cinelli's Restaurant, and its related corporate entity Cinelli's Ristorante, Inc. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. It alleged that the company violated Title VII by subjecting two female employees to a sexually hostile work environment that included frequent sexual harassment in the form of lewd gestures, comments, and touching. The plaintiff sought damages and injunctive relief. The case was assigned to Judge Terrence W. Boyle.
On November 16, 2006, the EEOC amended its complaint to include both the main Cinelli’s Restaurant and its related corporate entity, Cinelli’s Ristorante. Starting in January 2007, the case was briefly stayed for settlement talks, but these were unsuccessful. In March 2007, Cinelli’s (through each of its corporate entities) filed answers to the amended complaint. Shortly afterward, all of Cinelli’s lawyers for all of its litigating entities sought to withdraw as counsel. The court granted the lawyers permission to withdraw on April 23, 2007.
On January 11, 2008, the EEOC moved for default judgment, as a corporation cannot defend a suit without legal representation. The court deferred ruling on this request for several months before finally granting it on August 12 of that year, after Cinelli’s continually failed to respond. 2008 WL 3539806. On August 27, the court held a hearing where a lawyer from the EEOC presented her case for the plaintiff. The defendant did not show up.
On September 12, 2008, the court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiff and awarded approximately $87,674 in damages. Each of the injured employees received $25,000 plus interest in compensatory damages, and one of them received an additional $12,674 in back pay. They also received a gross $25,000 jointly and severally in punitive damages.
The court did not grant injunctive relief. We do not know whether defendant paid the damages, but there is nothing further in the docket, so it seems likely that they did. Cinelli’s Restaurant has since closed.
Jason Chester - 05/28/2008
Rebecca Strauss - 05/22/2018
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