Case: EEOC v. POPEYES CHICKEN

4:06-cv-03061 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Filed Date: Sept. 29, 2006

Closed Date: 2009

Clearinghouse coding complete

Case Summary

The Houston District Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Houston Fast Foods which owns and operates a Popeye's franchise, in September of 2006, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The suit was based on violations of Title VII, when a manager at a Popeye's sexually harassed female employees by groping them and other sexual advances, and retaliated against them by reducing hours and constructive termination. The parties settled the case within a week of the case being filed through a consent decree issued on October 4th, 2006.The consent decree contained monetary relief and injunctive relief. The damages paid totaled $126,000, with $86,000 going to two named complainants and the remainder going to a settlement fund for a class of women to be determined by the EEOC. The injunctions were designed to prevent Houston Fast Foods from discriminating on the basis of gender or retaliating against complainants in the future. They were to fire the manager who was responsible for the harassment and retaliation, as well as give future employers a negative reference as to this former employee. They were to apologize to the complainants and expunge their records. In addition they were required to provide annual training on sexual discrimination and retaliation to their employees, and initiate a new anti-harassment policy. The decree was to last for 36 months. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement; the case was presumably closed in 2009.

show full summary

Summary Authors

Alex Bean (6/12/2007)

Clearinghouse (6/12/2017)

People

Judge(s)

Stacy, Frances H. (Texas)

Judge(s)

Stacy, Frances H. (Texas)

show all people

Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
4:06-cv-03061	Docket (PACER) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Houston Fast Foods	Oct. 4, 2006	Oct. 4, 2006 Docket
1 4:06-cv-03061	Complaint Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Houston Fast Foods d/b/a Popeye's Chicken	Sept. 29, 2006	Sept. 29, 2006 Complaint
4 4:06-cv-03061	Consent Decree Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Houston Fast Foods d/b/a Popeye's	Oct. 2, 2006	Oct. 2, 2006 Settlement Agreement

show / hide documents

Resources

Title	Description		External URL Date / External URL
Under the Radar: Visibility and the Effects of Discrimination Lawsuits in Small and Large Firms Carly Knight, Frank Dobbin, Alexandra Kalev	Research on how discrimination lawsuits affect corporate diversity has yielded mixed results. Qualitative studies highlight the limited efficacy of lawsuits in the typical workplace, finding that lit…	March 2022	April 1, 2022 https://cris.tau.ac.il/...

show / hide resources

Docket

Last updated March 27, 2025, 8:23 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT against Houston Fast Foods d/b/a Popeye's (Filing fee $ 350) filed by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.(McFerren, Aimee) (Entered: 09/29/2006)	Sept. 29, 2006	Sept. 29, 2006
2	ANSWER to Complaint by Houston Fast Foods, filed.(John, Stephanie) (Entered: 10/02/2006)	Oct. 2, 2006	Oct. 2, 2006
3	ORDER for Initial Pretrial and Scheduling Conference and Order to Disclose Interested Persons. Initial Conference set for 2/6/2007 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 704 before Magistrate Judge Frances H Stacy. ( Judge Melinda Harmon ) Parties notified. (blacy, ) (Entered: 10/02/2006)	Oct. 2, 2006	Oct. 2, 2006
4	Joint MOTION for Entry of Order re: by all parties, filed. Motion Docket Date 10/23/2006. (Attachments: # 1 Consent Decree)(John, Stephanie) (Entered: 10/02/2006)	Oct. 2, 2006	Oct. 2, 2006
	Fee waived re: 1 Complaint , filed. (agould, ) (Entered: 10/03/2006)	Oct. 3, 2006	Oct. 3, 2006
5	CONSENT DECREE Granting the 4 Joint MOTION for Entry of Consent Decree. Case terminated on Oct 4, 2006.( Signed by Judge Melinda Harmon ) Parties notified.(psmith, ) (Entered: 10/05/2006)	Oct. 4, 2006	Oct. 4, 2006