Employment Law: Alabama KFC Owner to Pay $1 Million to Settle Sexual Harassment Suit

May 18, 2010

Mobile, Alabama – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced last week that a settlement has been reached with an Alabama KFC owner to end the sexual harassment suit that involves 19 female employees.

According to the EEOC, Jack Marshall Foods Inc. has agreed to settle the suit and pay $1 million to the female employees involved.

The lawsuit was filed last March 2009 which claimed that the family-run company based in Tucaloosa tolerated a working environment where male employees were allowed to describe sexual interests with female workers and perform unwelcome touching and groping that were sexual in nature.

The suit also indicated that at least three of the female employees were teenagers at the time.

Jack Marshall Foods Inc., through a press release, said that the company has already fired the male cooks in question even before the lawsuit was filed.

They also said that not all the claims were found to be true but it agreed to the settlement to avoid a costly litigation and to protect the jobs of their other 400 employees.