Ashland Burger King Franchisee to Pay $400K for Sexual Harassment
Two Former Employees Allege They Were Sexually Harassed by the Store's General Manager
ASHLAND, Wis. – A District Judge has ordered the owners of the Burger King in Ashland to pay two former employees over $400,000 in damages and fines for alleged ongoing sexual harassment by the store’s general manager.
According to court documents, the two female employees were hired in 2017 and say the general manager began making “regular sexual advances and comments” towards both women.
Court documents say the women received sexually explicit Facebook messages from the manager which included naked photos and videos of him having sex with his ex-wife among other incidents.
The women say he would also make comments that they had to keep these instances “quiet in the workplace” and “he was still their boss.”
In the lawsuit, one of the employees said when she began refusing the general manager’s advances she was fired. The other female employee said she was fired after speaking with the manager’s wife about the videos she was sent through Facebook messenger.
According to court documents, when the women contacted the regional manager about the occurrences and subsequent termination they were told he was “busy but would try to set up a time to meet.” The women said they never heard back from the regional manager regarding the incidents.
On October 4 a judge ordered Cave Enterprises Operations LLC to pay $225,290 to one of the employees and $155,020 to the other employee for past and future lost wages, emotional distress and punitive damages.
