SYRACUSE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: TAST) today announced that its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Carrols Corporation ("Carrols"), has entered
into an agreement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
("EEOC") resolving longstanding litigation originally commenced by the
EEOC in 1998.
The case, alleged that Carrols had subjected female employees working at
its locations to sexual harassment in violation of Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, and attempted to establish a class action
based on a claim of "pattern or practice" across its restaurants in 13
states. Throughout this litigation over the past 14 years, Carrols has
strongly denied all the allegations of the complaint and vigorously
defended itself against these claims.
In 2005, the Court dismissed the class or "pattern or practice" claims
that the EEOC had brought on behalf of 90,000 female employees. The
result of that decision and further rulings was to leave only a relative
handful of individual claims to be resolved and a vindication of
Carrols' longstanding written policies and procedures.
Further litigation continued over the remaining claims, and in order to
avoid ongoing litigation costs, Carrols has now entered into the
agreement with the EEOC which fully resolves and settles all remaining
claims without any admission of wrongdoing. Under the agreement, Carrols
will make cash payments to the 89 remaining claimants in the lawsuit
totaling $2.5 million, with allocations among the claimants being
determined by the EEOC. Carrols agreed to continue to uphold its
obligations under Title VII and continue to maintain its existing and
comprehensive anti-harassment policies and procedures and training
programs. It also agreed to make certain enhancements to such existing
policies and procedures and training programs and to report on the
results of its efforts to the EEOC over a 2 year period. The agreement
with the EEOC is subject to court approval.
Daniel T. Accordino, CEO of Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. stated, "We
unequivocally do not tolerate sexual harassment in our workplace and
have resolved this litigation without any admission of wrongdoing after
many years of intensive, costly and frustrating litigation with the
EEOC. At Carrols, we take sexual harassment very seriously and have long
had comprehensive procedures and processes in place to encourage our
employees to report violations to our policies and to do so without fear
of retaliation. We also have a long history of thoroughly investigating
employee complaints and terminating employees who have harassed others."
Accordino continued, "We agreed to this negotiated settlement at this
stage of the litigation simply because the settlement payment we've
agreed to make is far less than the cost and expense we would incur to
continue to litigate each of the remaining individual claims to
conclusion given the age of the claims and because hundreds of potential
witnesses were now, after 14 years, in scattered locations across the
country, ill or deceased. Our agreement with the EEOC to continue, and
in limited circumstances enhance, our best practices on harassment
prevention and training confirms our commitment to providing a workplace
with equal opportunity and free from sexual harassment."
Carrols has been represented in the litigation from its inception by
Mike Delikat and John Giansello of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, New
York and Jeffrey Mayer of Freeborn and Peters, Chicago, Illinois.
About the Company
Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. is Burger King Corporation's largest
franchisee, globally, with 572 BURGER KING® restaurants as of December
31, 2012 and has operated BURGER KING® restaurants since 1976. For more
information on Carrols, please visit the company's website at www.carrols.com.
Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc.
Investor Relations:
800-348-1074,
ext. 3333
investorrelations@carrols.com
Source: Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc.
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