Buckhead brewery sued by EEOC for alleged Civil Rights Act violation
ATLANTA - A Buckhead brewery has been hit with a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the firing of a Black chef.
The EEOC says Iron Hill Brewery on Peachtree Road and its parent company violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Officials claim the brewery fired a Black sous chef in training after he made two complaints to management about the alleged mistreatment of Hispanic and female employees.
The lawsuit claims that one of the employee's complaints was that the brewery was not providing a safe and private space for women to express breast milk.
After making the complaints, the EEOC's lawsuit claims the employee received "unwarranted disciplinary action" and then was fired.
"Iron Hill stated that the firing was due to a violation of its ‘zero tolerance’ policy on workplace discrimination, even though the sous chef in training had not engaged in discriminatory behavior," a spokesperson for the EEOC wrote in a release announcing the lawsuit. "Iron Hill refused to terminate, or even discipline, a white employee who several employees claimed violated Iron Hill’s discrimination policy with respect to Black employees."
"Employees should feel free to report discrimination without fear of retaliation when they see behavior in the workplace that violates Title VII," said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office "This lawsuit serves as a reminder to employers that federal law prohibits terminating employees when they speak up about workplace discrimination."
The agency says it filed the lawsuit in U.S. district court after they failed to reach a pre-litigation settlement with the brewery.