NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced June 22 that Antonella’s Restaurant & Pizzeria Inc., JTA Inc., and Dellicap LLC, doing business as Grand Centro Grill (collectively, Antonella’s) will pay $50,000 and change company practices after allegations of national origin discrimination.
"We are pleased that because of this settlement, Antonella's will institute policies that were previously missing and may assist in preventing future discrimination," said EEOC regional attorney Jeffrey Burstein.
According to allegations, the defendants discriminated against Hispanic employees using name calling and slurs. The defendants purportedly created a hostile work environment for the Hispanic employees and mandated that the employees only use English at work – despite having no business reason to do so. Alleged conduct of this nature violates Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights.
"This case exemplifies the EEOC's commitment to enforcing our laws when employers discriminate against any employees, including especially vulnerable, low-wage workers in a restaurant kitchen,” said EEOC New York District Director Kevin Berry.
EEOC's New York District Office is responsible for agency operations in New York, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and parts of New Jersey.