N.Y. Landmark Pays $2M to Settle Sex Claims
Tavern on the Green Allegedly Subjected Employees to Sexual Harassment, Racism

By ALICE GOMSTYN
ABC NEWS Business Unit

One of New York City’s most famous restaurants will pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit over sexual harassment and racism allegations.

Tavern on the Green, the 74-year-old café overlooking Manhattan’s Central Park, is accused of “severe and pervasive harassment,” including one manager’s grabbing of an employee’s breasts and buttocks and his repeated use of racial slurs and lewd sexual references.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against the restaurant in September 2007. The EEOC announced the settlement on Tuesday.

EEOC lawyer Kam S. Wong said that some 50 former and current employees will be eligible for compensation from the settlement.

“Even a high-end establishment is not an exception to the world of harassment and retaliation, unfortunately,” Wong, a senior trial attorney with the EEOC, told ABC News. “A settlement as significant as this one should send a message to all employers that EEOC takes seriously and will strenuously enforce the laws against discrimination in the workplace.” …[…]

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