Rosebud Restaurants to Pay $1.9 Million to Settle Lawsuit Claiming Discrimination Against African-Americans

Rosebud Restaurants will pay $1.9 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit claiming that it refused to hire black employees.  According to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC), 13 Italian restaurants operated by Rosebud in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs refused to hire African-Americans because of their race. The EEOC also charged that managers, including Rosebud owner Alex Dana, used racial slurs to refer to blacks.   At the time EEOC began investigating Rosebud's hiring practices, many of its restaurants had no African-American employees at all. The settlement calls for Rosebud to pay $1.9 million to African-American applicants who were denied jobs.  Additionally, Rosebud has agreed to hiring goals for qualified black applicants, with the aim that 11% of Rosebud's future workforce be African-American.  In addition, the settlement enjoins Rosebud from engaging in race discrimination or retaliation in the future. It also requires Rosebud to recruit African-American applicants, train employees and managers about race discrimination and retaliation, provide periodic reports to EEOC on compliance with the decree's terms for four years, and post notices informing employees of the decree's terms. The restaurants covered by the suit include The Rosebud; Carmine's; Rosebud on Rush; Rosebud Prime; Mama's Boy; Rosebud Steakhouse; Rosebud Deerfield; Rosebud in Naperville; and the closed restaurants Rosebud Old World Italian; Rosebud Theatre District; Rosebud of Highland Park; Rosebud Burger & Comfort Foods; Rosebud Trattoria; Joe Fish; EATT; Bar Umbriago; and Centro. An EEOC spokesman said, "African-Americans have faced and still face barriers in being hired at upscale restaurants, especially in visible, and often well-paid, positions such as server. That is why the recruiting and hiring relief in this decree is so important. It will lead directly to qualified blacks being hired for front- and back-of-the-house positions, helping to remedy past discrimination by Rosebud and ensuring equal employment opportunities for future African-American applicants."