EEOC: Two Shreveport-area restaurants will pay $34,000 to settle sexual-harassment claim

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that Minden Seafood, LLC and Dorcheat Seafood, LLC, operators of Minden Seafood and Dorcheat Seafood and Grill, will pay a former employee $34,000 in back pay and emotional-distress damages to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. The settlement resolves claims that a workplace culture and management inaction left a cashier vulnerable to repeated harassment.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, a male cook at Minden Seafood repeatedly sexually harassed a female cashier by making unwanted and inappropriate sexually suggestive comments to her, propositioning her, and following her into the women’s bathroom, where he exposed himself to her. The complaint says the cashier reported the cook’s behavior to a manager and requested working hours to avoid being with him, but the manager took no steps to protect her from his sexually harassing conduct. The employee “felt forced to resign in November 2021” and was also denied employment at Dorcheat Seafood and Grill, a sister restaurant, the suit alleges.

The EEOC filed suit after attempting a pre-litigation conciliation, bringing the case as EEOC v. Minden Seafood LLC and Dorcheat Seafood, LLC, Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-02360 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. A four-year consent decree settling the suit was approved on Jan. 28, and the EEOC announced the settlement on Feb. 4. Under the consent decree, the companies must compensate the former employee and will also conduct training, revise policies, provide regular reports to the EEOC, and post a notice affirming their obligations under Title VII.

The settlement is modest compared with other recent EEOC enforcement actions in the restaurant sector, where the agency has secured larger awards and injunctive relief in cases involving multiple victims or systemic failures. In separate matters the EEOC has reached six-figure and larger settlements and emphasized the vulnerability of low-wage and young workers. EEOC officials have said employers have a duty to protect employees and that the agency will hold accountable employers who fail to do so.

For restaurant employees, the case underscores that Title VII covers sex discrimination and retaliation claims and that formal complaints can lead to federal enforcement and court-ordered relief. For managers and operators, the consent decree’s requirements - training, policy revisions, reporting and posted notices - are tangible measures that aim to change workplace behavior and create accountability structures. Employers that do not investigate complaints or remove harassing individuals risk litigation, monetary damages, and court supervision.

The available records do not include a statement from Minden Seafood, LLC or Dorcheat Seafood, LLC. With the consent decree now entered, the next steps will be monitoring compliance for the decree’s four-year term and watching whether the mandated training and policy changes reduce harassment risk in these restaurants and in similar operations across the industry.