State and Case Law Relationship Paperâ¢EEOC v. Jillian's of Indianapolis, Inc., Jillian's Entertainment Holdings, Inc. & Jillian's Entertainment Corp., No. IP00-1452-C-B/G (S.D. Ind. Aug. 12, 2004)This case was brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on gender (or sex), as well as many other aspects of the employment relationship. It applies to most employers engaged in interstate commerce with more than 15 employees, labor organizations, and employment agencies. The Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Sex includes pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. It makes it illegal for employers to discriminate in hiring, discharging, compensation, or terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Employment agencies may not discriminate when hiring or referring applicants (LII legal information institute [LII], 2004).
In this Title VII class suit, it was alleged that Jillian's of Indianapolis, Inc., a restaurant which is part of a chain that operates restaurants with big screen TVs, video games, billiards, and live music, refused to hire men as food servers.
Sonny Cornelius, official portrait from .
English: William H. Brown, chairman of EEOC
John H Powell Jr, chairman of EEOCThe case states that the restaurant's general manager told male applicants the company did not hire men for server positions. The general manager also said during the EEOC's investigation that its patrons preferred female servers and, therefore, male applicants were only hired for door host, bar, and kitchen positions (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [TUSEEOC], 2004).
The case was resolved by a three-year consent decree which is contingent on Jillian's (which has now filed Bankruptcy) obtaining an order from the bankruptcy court approving the use of funds from its employment practices liability insurance policy to pay $350,000 in compensatory damages to the class members and $10,000 in administrative expenses to advertise for and locate class members. Class members are...