Il Fornaio Settles Bay Area Sexual Harassment Suit Involving Contra Costa Teens

WALNUT CREEK, CA — Il Fornaio will pay $3 million to settle a federal lawsuit that accused managers at its Walnut Creek restaurant of sexually harassing underage employees and cutting work for women who complained.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought the sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit on behalf of female employees, many of them teenagers.

The agency said it learned of at least 100 women affected by the restaurant chain’s work environment, according to its Oct. 13 settlement announcement.

The agency’s first amended complaint, filed April 1, 2024, details allegations involving six Bay Area locations: Walnut Creek, Burlingame, Palo Alto, Corte Madera, San Jose, and Santa Clara.

At Walnut Creek, the EEOC alleged that General Manager Walter Lezama gave underage female employees unwanted massages, groped an underage employee’s thigh, kissed another employee’s cheek, and played with another worker’s hair.

The complaint also accused him of repeatedly seeking to get underage employees to drink alcohol, which they refused.

The filing describes two female servers who allegedly faced retaliation after reporting harassment.

In 2023, one server reported that a coworker was spreading false rumors that she was an escort and prostitute.

According to the complaint, Lezama initially dismissed her concerns. After she approached other managers, he told the coworker to apologize but imposed no discipline.

Lezama then warned her against contacting human resources, continued assigning her to work with the coworker, and denied her work, the EEOC alleged. She resigned in 2023.

Another server complained in 2022 that two male servers repeatedly made lewd sexual comments. After local managers failed to act, she contacted corporate management, according to the filing.

The EEOC alleged that managers retaliated by assigning her fewer tables, reducing her tips. She quit that year.

The complaint describes similar allegations elsewhere in the Bay Area.

In Burlingame, female employees, including teenagers, allegedly endured unwanted touching, groping, sexual comments, and repeated advances from male employees. The agency alleged that a bar employee grabbed a hostess from behind and rubbed his genitals against her.

Managers and human resources received repeated complaints, but the harassment continued, according to the filing. The complaint also alleged that a general manager withdrew a promise of additional shifts after a hostess reported harassment. Two hostesses resigned, one in 2020 and another in 2023.

At Palo Alto, the EEOC alleged that an underage kitchen worker endured repeated sexual advances and groping before a male coworker raped her in 2019.

The complaint states that she reported the rape to police, who arrested the coworker at the restaurant, and that he was subsequently convicted of a sex crime.

When she complained to restaurant managers, they told her the company could do nothing because the rape occurred outside work, despite months of alleged workplace harassment beforehand, according to the filing.

The EEOC also alleged that managers warned her against contacting police when she reported groping by other staff members. She resigned in 2021.

In Corte Madera, male servers allegedly grabbed a female server’s waist, pinched her sides, and untied her apron. Another server offered to pay her for sex, according to the complaint.

The filing also alleged that a manager struck a female server’s shoulder after she told him not to touch her. She contacted human resources three times, but received no substantive follow-up about an investigation, according to the EEOC. Another server took medical leave in 2022 because of alleged harassment and never returned.

In San Jose, the agency alleged that an assistant manager repeatedly slapped a server’s buttocks and pursued dates despite her refusals. She resigned in 2019. A different manager allegedly reduced another server’s hours after she rejected his advances in 2022.

The complaint also describes a San Jose prep cook who allegedly endured repeated groping and sexual propositions after an executive chef dismissed her complaint.

In Santa Clara, an assistant manager allegedly criticized a hostess’s body and clothing in front of coworkers. Management separated their schedules for one week, then required her to work with him again, according to the complaint. The filing states that she hospitalized herself because of continuing emotional distress.

Another Santa Clara employee resigned in 2019 after allegedly enduring almost daily unwanted sexual comments and a chef’s request that she wear see-through leggings.

Il Fornaio operates 15 restaurants in California and Nevada, according to the settlement announcement.

The company will also provide other relief to resolve the lawsuit, which the EEOC filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.