EEOC Announces $575K ADEA Class Action Settlement Against Restaurant Chain

On Monday, the EEOC announced that it had settled a class action age discrimination lawsuit it had brought against a chain of Ruby Tuesday restaurants involving six restaurants in Pennsylvania and Beachwood, Ohio.  In its lawsuit ((EEOC v. Ruby Tuesday, Inc., W.D. PA, C. A. No. 09-1330), the EEOC alleged that the restaurant chain “engaged in a pattern or practice of age discrimination against job applicants who were 40 years of age or older” and “failed to preserve employment records, including employment applications, as required by the ADEA and EEOC regulations.”  The settlement/consent decree involves the payment of $575K by the defendant employer (Ruby Tuesday, Inc.) and requires the employer over the next 40 months to engage in the following actions:

• Implement numerical goals for hiring and recruitment of job applicants age 40 and older at the affected locations;
•  Review its job advertisements to make certain they do not violate the ADEA's prohibitions against age discrimination;
• Conduct audits, including random reviews of hiring decisions, to ensure non-discrimination and compliance with the terms of the consent decree;
• Evaluate the job performance of people with hiring authority for the six stores named in the consent decree and set their compensation (including bonuses), in part, based on their degree of success in helping Ruby Tuesday achieve its goals of ensuring that its recruitment and hiring practices provide equal employment opportunities for people who are 40 or older;
• Designate a decree compliance monitor for oversight of compliance with the requirements of the ADEA and the terms of the consent decree;
• Provide extensive training on the requirements of the ADEA and the consent decree to the decree compliance monitor, human resources personnel and hiring authorities of the six stores named in the consent decree; and
• Report to the EEOC and keep records about its hiring practices and compliance with the consent decree.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.