Ariz. Cafe Accused of Abusing Employees Based on Perceived Sexual Orientation

A complaint has been filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against an Arizona Wine bar for sexually harassing employees who were perceived to be gay.

According to a statement released by the EEOC, Scottsdale Wine Caf�, LLC (5th & Wine), a Scottsdale wine bar and restaurant, violated federal law by subjecting two of its male employees to a hostile work environment based on sexual orientation and by retaliating against one employee, the EEOC charged in a lawsuit filed today.

EEOC said that 5th & Wine allowed its management and line staff to harass two male servers based on their actual and perceived sexual orientation. The alleged harassment included egregious name calling, comments, innuendos and touching. Although the two employees complained to their supervisors, the supervisors did nothing about the conduct, and, in some instances, actually participated in the harassment, according to the federal agency. When one of the employees mentioned that he planned on taking legal action against 5th & Wine, the company fired him.

According to Phoenix New Times (who mention only the victims' first names Wyatt and Jared), some of the allegations in the complaint included:

� Scott Yanni, the restaurant and wine bar's general manager, called Wyatt a "fag" on two or three occasions.

� Chef Josh Yazzi reportedly told Wyatt, after he failed to catch a lemon thrown to him, "I guess we know now that Wyatt isn't a catcher, at least not in the kitchen." Both Yazzi and Yanni then laughed.

� "Wyatt only likes big penises; he doesn't like Mexican because they are too small," an employee reportedly told Wyatt.

� An employee identified only as "Richie" in the complaint looked at Wyatt while telling him, "A blow job makes your whole day, but anal sex makes your hole weak."

� Jared's coworkers repeatedly called him "strawberry shortcake," "faggot," and "ginger snap."

The lawsuit seeks back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages for the two former employees, as well as appropriate injunctive relief to prevent discriminatory practices in the future.

The lawsuit announced today is part of EEOC's ongoing efforts to implement its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP), which it renewed in 2016. The SEP includes "[p]rotecting lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination based on sex" as a Commission enforcement priority.

"Federal law protects against all forms of discrimination based on sex," said EEOC Phoenix District Office Regional Attorney Mary Jo O'Neill. "Employers cannot allow harassment based on sexual orientation, whether actual or perceived."

Elizabeth Cadle, district director of EEOC's Phoenix District Office, added, "We must make sure that employees are not punished for standing up to unlawful misconduct in the workplace. We encourage employers to take complaints of harassment seriously and to make every effort to prevent such abuse - for everyone's benefit."

EEOC's Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and part of New Mexico (including Albuquerque).