Waitress sexually harassed at work was told by boss she ‘enjoyed’ it, NC lawsuit says
When a former waitress at a chain restaurant in North Carolina reported a regular customer for making sexual comments to her, she said her manager gave the man a fist bump.
The incident was part of a larger pattern of inaction by management when it came to allegations of sexual harassment brought by female wait staff at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Durham County court. It’s the second suit brought in recent months by a former waitress against the Charlotte-based restaurant chain.
A spokesperson for Firebirds declined to comment on pending litigation in a statement to McClatchy News on Monday. An attorney representing the waitress did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Firebirds started in Charlotte over two decades ago and now operates dozens of restaurants in 19 states — including seven in North Carolina, according to its website. The restaurant serves “classic American cuisine” and prides itself on “hiring the best people and empowering them to perform to their full potential.”
“Honesty and integrity guide every action and underlie every policy,” Firebirds’ website states.
According to Friday’s complaint, the waitress started working at a Firebirds restaurant in Durham in 2018. For the next nine months, her lawyer said she was subject to “unwelcome suggestive comments, sexual advances and other forms of sexual harassment” by coworkers and customers.
In January 2019, a regular customer reportedly asked her where she was from. When she said Miami, her lawyer said he responded by telling her, “You can let me ride that Miami wave.”
The waitress told her general manager, who went over to speak with the customer. According to the lawsuit, the waitress saw him “dapping up the customer’s hand in a fist bump and laughing with him.”
On another occasion, the complaint states a 45-year-old male server grabbed the waitress by the arm and wouldn’t let go for over a minute while he told her how pretty she was. Two men who worked in the kitchen are also accused of repeatedly asking her if she “shaved down there” while pointing at parts of her body.
According to the lawsuit, the waitress reported the kitchen staff in March 2019 to the bar manager.
“Rather than address the reported conduct of the kitchen staff, (the manager) told (the waitress) that the other employees and customers had made sexual comments and advances toward her because she encouraged the behavior and enjoyed receiving it,” the complaint states.
“Upon hearing this totally inappropriate response from a manager, (the waitress) could not help but call (him) an a** hole.”
Over the next month, the lawsuit alleges the waitress was given increasingly difficult sections and tables. When she reportedly asked to discuss the challenging assignments, her attorney said the bar manager refused and reported her to the general manager for previously calling him a curse word.
The manager gave them both an opportunity to share their side of the story during a sitdown meeting in mid-April 2019, according to the complaint.
But as the waitress was talking, her attorney said the manager smirked and “responded in a condescending tone by mockingly repeating her story back to her.” She was then told to leave without finishing her shift.
According to the complaint, the waitress returned a few days later for her next shift and was met by the general manager, who reportedly fired her after telling her she was “too much of a problem.” The waitress said she called the corporate office to contest the decision but never received a call back.
Her lawsuit echoes a similar complaint filed in October in federal court by a former waitress at a Raleigh location. In that case, the woman said her coworkers at Firebirds shared a sexually explicit video of her in the Facebook group chat the wait staff used for scheduling.
A judge has sent that case to arbitration, court filings show.
Friday’s complaint makes claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent retention and supervision and wrongful discharge. The waitress is seeking more than $25,000 in damages and attorney’s fees.
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