Florida Bar and Grill Pays $65,000, Faces Monitoring After EEOC Sexual Harassment Findings

River's Edge Bar and Grill in Gibsonton, Florida agreed to pay $65,000 and submit to three years of federal oversight after the EEOC found a sexually hostile workplace where a co-owner harassed female servers and a server was fired shortly after reporting the conduct.

The $65,000 breaks down as $45,000 to the server who was terminated and $20,000 to a second class member. That firing came to a head in July 2022, when the employee was let go shortly after reporting harassment. The EEOC attempted to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process before filing suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, under Case No. 8:24-cv-2090-WFJ-AAS.

The workplace environment, as described in the federal complaint, included pornographic images, unwanted touching, and retaliation against employees who spoke up.

The court-approved three-year consent decree goes well beyond the cash payment. River's Edge must hire an outside monitor to conduct workplace investigations and provide training throughout the decree's term. The restaurant's three owners, identified as brothers, must complete live, one-hour in-person training annually for each of the three years, with the outside monitor conducting those sessions. That training must cover managers' responsibilities under Title VII and how to recognize and prevent sexual harassment and retaliation.

The restaurant also agreed to overhaul its sexual harassment policy to include a formal written complaint procedure and explicit examples of prohibited conduct. The consent decree specifies that the revised policy must address verbal behavior such as making "jokes, insults and innuendos based on sex" or "comments or questions on a person's body or sex life," and nonverbal behavior like "standing too close or brushing against a person's body." River's Edge must also post a public notice about the lawsuit inside the bar and submit reports to the EEOC every six months regarding any new sexual harassment complaints.

"Company owners have an obligation to implement safeguards in their workplaces that prevent and address harassment," said Kristen Foslid, regional attorney for the EEOC's Miami District Office. "Unchecked authority in this case resulted in harm that could have been prevented."

Tamra S. Schweiberger, director of the EEOC's Tampa Field Office, was direct about the agency's posture: "Employers cannot look the other way when sexual harassment is taking place."

For restaurant operators, the case underscores how the EEOC uses consent decrees to restructure workplace practices rather than simply extract a financial penalty. The monitoring and mandatory owner training requirements mean the three brothers running River's Edge will be personally accountable to federal oversight through the life of the decree, not just to a one-time settlement check.