In September 2000, the Indianapolis office of the EEOC brought this suit against Jillian's of Indianapolis, IN Inc., Jillian's Entertainment Corp., and Jillian's Entertainment Holdings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Jillian's operates a nationwide chain of restaurants in about 25 states with more than 5,000 employees.

The complaint is unavailable; however an EEOC press release reveals that the EEOC alleged sex discrimination under Title VII on behalf of a class of male employees. The suit alleged that Jillian's maintained sex-segregated job classifications on a nationwide basis and failed to hire male employees to server positions and other so-called "female" job classifications because of their sex.

The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment in January 2003. In June 2003, the judge granted summary judgment to the defendant on the nationwide pattern and practice claim, but the motion was denied in part, and the case was allowed to proceed. The case was resolved by the entry of a consent decree in August 2004. In the three-year consent decree, the defendant was required to pay $350,000 in compensatory damages to the class members and $10,000 in administrative expenses to advertise for and locate class members. The decree provided that Jillian's will hire for all positions without regard to sex and will maintain applicant flow logs and applications. Additionally, Jillian's was required to prepare sex-neutral advertisements and revise job descriptions to make them sex-neutral.

Keri Livingston - 10/08/2007


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