EEOC: Ruby Tuesday discriminated against men in job listing

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a class-action lawsuit against restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday for stating in a job listing that only female employees would be considered for summer positions at its location in a resort town in Utah. The job posting, according to the EEOC, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC website says, “the law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments … and any other term or condition of employment. The job was posted internally in 2013 for temporary work in Park City, Utah, and Ruby Tuesday planned to provide housing for the employees it hired for those positions. In a statement, the EEOC said, “[T]he announcement stated that only females would be considered and Ruby Tuesday in fact only selected women for those summer jobs, supposedly from fears about housing employees of both genders together.” The suit was filed on behalf of two male employees at Ruby Tuesday locations in Oregon and Missouri, who both wanted to apply for the summer positions but were excluded because of their gender. One such employee, Andrew Herrera, had been working at Ruby Tuesday for more than eight years. “[Herrera] was shocked and angered that Ruby Tuesday would categorically exclude him and other male employees from a lucrative summer assignment based purely on stereotypes about his gender,” said Nancy Sienko, an EEOC field director. “[Ruby Tuesday] could have addressed any real privacy concerns by providing separate housing units for each gender in Park City, but chose an unlawful option instead.” The EEOC seeks to not only train the corporation on anti-discrimination laws, but also monetary damages on behalf of class members. Ruby Tuesday has 775 restaurant franchise locations, both in the United States and internationally. photo credit: Mike Mozart via photopin (license)]]>