Grabbing and pinching alleged in sexual harassment lawsuit at IHOP restaurant in KCK
A woman says sexual harassment complaints went ignored at a Kansas City, Kansas, IHOP restaurant and that her firing was an act of discrimination based on sex, according to a federal lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for Kansas, a woman who worked at the restaurant said a manager began making sexually suggestive comments to her on March 14, 2018, the day she was hired.
Named as defendants in the suit are Rainbow Cakes, Inc., doing business as IHOP and registered in Overland Park; IHOP Restaurants LLC in Topeka, and a manager at the restaurant, located at 3928 Rainbow Boulevard.
The lawsuit describes more than five months of alleged harassment, including a manager grabbing toward the woman’s vagina, pinching her nipple and harassing other workers.
When another employee told a supervisor to tell the manager to stop touching her, no investigation or disciplinary action was taken, the lawsuit said.
Stephanie Peterson, a spokesperson for the national IHOP company, said they don’t comment on pending lawsuits involving their franchises, but that harassment has no place in an organization and goes against the values they uphold as a brand.
She also said IHOP restaurants are independently owned and maintain their own human resources policies.
The Star generally does not name victims of sexual abuse without their permission.
On Aug. 23, 2018, the lawsuit alleges, the manager threatened to fire the woman for closing out a check incorrectly. The exchange took place in front of a supervisor and the woman reported the manager’s ongoing harassment to the supervisor.
The supervisor directed the woman to go to a bar next door, where the manager allegedly apologized for pinching her nipple, but then threatened her job again.
The manager fired the woman the next week.
The lawsuit cites Title VII protections that prohibit employers from discriminating based on sex.
The woman suffered pervasive harassment that created a hostile environment, the lawsuit said, and management-level employees failed to take appropriate action to address the gender discrimination and harassment.
An employee at the restaurant who answered the phone Friday said the manager named in the lawsuit no longer worked there. A manager reached by phone at the restaurant Wednesday said she had no comment.
This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 10:44 AM.
