The former Protocol Restaurant in Williamsville will pay $90,000 and take other steps to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The EEO sued the restaurant's owner and general manager, Paul Pelczynski, for sexually harassing female employees with inappropriate physical contact, among other things. If employees objected, they were fired, while others quit because they couldn't endure the "hostile work environment."
The settlement requires Protocol to pay $90,000 to the women victimized by the harassment and requires Pelczynski abstain from management or supervision of restaurant employees for three years.
“I applaud the women who came forward and exposed the long-standing hostile work environment at Protocol Restaurant, and I hope this settlement provides some measure of justice for the workers,” said former EEOC Trial Attorney Elizabeth Fox-Solomon, who litigated this case along with Supervisory Trial Attorney Kimberly Cruz.
