Case: EEOC v. RARE HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL INC (d/b/a LONGHORN STEAK HOUSE)

8:02-cv-01770 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Filed Date: Sept. 30, 2002

Closed Date: 2007

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Case Summary

In September 2002, the Tampa Area Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Rare Hospitality International, Inc., d/b/a Longhorn Steakhouse, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida alleging discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the charging party, a female employee, and similarly situated individuals were subjected to sexual harassment by their manager consisting of unwelcome sexual comments and sexually offensive physical conduct. In addition, the defendant retaliated against the charging party by assigning her unfavorable job assignments and eventually discharging her in response to her complaints of the harassment. The charging party intervened in the suit in November 2002. The parties then filed a proposed consent decree about a month later in December 2002. After some scheduling orders, the parties participated in mediation in November 2003 and finally reached a final settlement in December 2003 through a consent decree.

The three-year decree, containing non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses, required the defendant to: distribute a copy of its sexual harassment and retaliation policy, provide Title VII training for its managers and supervisory personnel, post a notice of the consent decree, and report to the EEOC every six months. In addition, the defendant agreed to pay a total of $200,000 to be distributed among three individuals.

The decree was entered in 2003 and scheduled to last until 2006. No further docket entries exist, so the case is closed.

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Summary Authors

Michele Marxkors (6/26/2007)

Clearinghouse (12/3/2018)

Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
8:02-cv-01770	Docket EEOC v. Rare Hospitality	Dec. 30, 2003	Dec. 30, 2003 Docket
1 8:02-cv-01770	Complaint United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rare Hospitality International, Inc. dba Longhorn Steak House	Sept. 30, 2002	Sept. 30, 2002 Complaint
6 8:02-cv-01770	Complaint of Intervention and Demand for Jury Trial EEOC v. Rare Hospitality International, Inc. dba Longhorn Steak House	Nov. 12, 2002	Nov. 12, 2002 Complaint
24 8:02-cv-01770	Order of Dismissal Equal Opportunity Commission v. Rare Hospitality International, Inc. dba Longhorn Steak House	Nov. 5, 2003	Nov. 5, 2003 Order/Opinion
27 8:02-cv-01770	Consent Decree Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Colleen Falkowski v. Rare Hospitality International Inc., dba Longhorn Steakhouse	Dec. 30, 2003	Dec. 30, 2003 Settlement Agreement
26 8:02-cv-01770	Stipulated Consent Order of Dismissal with Prejudice Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Colleen Falkowski v. Rare Hospitality International, Inc., dba Longhorn Steakhouse	Dec. 30, 2003	Dec. 30, 2003 Order/Opinion
8:02-cv-01770	Two Florida Restaurants To Pay $525,000 For Sexual Harassment of Teenagers EEOC v. Rare Hospitality No Court	Jan. 8, 2004	Jan. 8, 2004 Press Release
8:02-cv-01770	EEOC Litigation Settlements December 2003 EEOC v. Rare Hospitality	Dec. 1, 2004	Dec. 1, 2004 Press Release
	Protecting Our Nation's Workers From The Start: EEOC's Youth @ Work Initiative EEOC v. Rare Hospitality No Court	Oct. 18, 2005	Oct. 18, 2005 Other

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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…	April 1, 2022	April 1, 2022 https://cris.tau.ac.il/...

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Docket

Last updated March 27, 2024, 3:20 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT for action under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 filed; jury trial demanded; injunctive relief sought. Filing fee waived. (mrh) Modified on 10/01/2002 (Entered: 10/01/2002)	Sept. 30, 2002	Sept. 30, 2002 Clearinghouse
	MAGISTRATE JUDGE CASE ASSIGNMENT Magistrate assigned: Thomas B. McCoun, III (mrh) (Entered: 10/01/2002)	Sept. 30, 2002	Sept. 30, 2002
	SUMMONS(ES) issued for Rare Hospitality International, Inc. Consent (s) issued. (mrh) (Entered: 10/01/2002)	Sept. 30, 2002	Sept. 30, 2002
2	NOTICE of designation under Local Rule 3.05 - TRACK 2. (ctc) (eec) (Entered: 10/03/2002)	Oct. 2, 2002	Oct. 2, 2002
3	MOTION by Colleen A. Falkowski to intervene by Colleen A. Falkowski (eec) (Entered: 10/17/2002)	Oct. 16, 2002	Oct. 16, 2002
4	RESPONSE by Rare Hospitality to [3-1] motion to intervene by Colleen A. Falkowski. (eec) (Entered: 11/04/2002)	Nov. 1, 2002	Nov. 1, 2002
5	ORDER granting [3-1] motion to intervene by Colleen A. Falkowski; clerk is to file the complaint of intervention. ( Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 11/12/2002)	Nov. 8, 2002	Nov. 8, 2002
6	INTERVENOR'S COMPLAINT by Colleen A. Falkowski against Rare Hospitality. (eec) (Entered: 11/13/2002)	Nov. 12, 2002	Nov. 12, 2002 Clearinghouse
6	DEMAND for jury trial by Colleen A. Falkowski. (eec) (Entered: 11/13/2002)	Nov. 12, 2002	Nov. 12, 2002 Clearinghouse
7	RETURN of service executed as to Rare Hospitality on 11/20/02; Answer due on 12/10/02 for Rare Hospitality. (eec) (Entered: 12/03/2002	Dec. 2, 2002	Dec. 2, 2002
8	APPEARANCE of non-resident counsel and designation of local counsel as to Rare Hospitality. Local counsel: Richard M. Hanchett. Non-resident counsel: Lisa L. Ballentine, Tracie Y. Johnson. (eec) (Entered: 12/06/2002)	Dec. 5, 2002	Dec. 5, 2002
9	ANSWER AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES to [1-1] complaint by Rare Hospitality. (eec) (Entered: 12/11/2002)	Dec. 10, 2002	Dec. 10, 2002
10	ANSWER and affirmative defenses to [1-1] complaint by Rare Hospitality (wlb) (Entered: 12/23/2002)	Dec. 20, 2002	Dec. 20, 2002
11	UNOPPOSED MOTION by EEOC (unopposed) to substitute attorney (wlb) (Entered: 12/23/2002)	Dec. 20, 2002	Dec. 20, 2002
	PROPOSED consent decree filed (jlh) (Entered: 12/24/2003)	Dec. 23, 2002	Dec. 23, 2002
12	ORDER granting [11-1] unopposed motion to substitute attorney; terminated attorney Carla J. Von Greiff for EEOC; Added Jennifer N. Brown. ( Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 01/03/2003)	Jan. 2, 2003	Jan. 2, 2003
13	ORDER TO SHOW cause for failure to file case management report; Response due on 4/1/03 for EEOC, for Colleen A. Falkowski. ( Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 03/19/2003)	March 18, 2003	March 18, 2003 Clearinghouse
14	CASE MANAGEMENT REPORT. (eec) (Entered: 03/21/2003)	March 20, 2003	March 20, 2003
15	RESPONSE to show cause order filed by plaintiff EEOC. (eec) (Entered: 03/31/2003)	March 28, 2003	March 28, 2003
16	RESPONSE to show cause order filed by intervenor-plaintiff Colleen A. Falkowski. (eec) (Entered: 03/31/2003)	March 28, 2003	March 28, 2003
17	CASE MANAGEMENT AND SCHEDULING ORDER setting third- party/joinder on 6/20/03; plaintiffs' expert disclosure on 7/18/03; defendant's expert disclosure on 8/22/03; Discovery cutoff 9/29/03; dispositive motion filing deadline for 10/27/03; Pretrial statement due on or before 1/6/04; Pretrial conference for 9:00 1/9/04; Jury trial set during the 2/2/04 trial term Scheduled for Judge James S. Moody Jr. ( signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 04/11/2003)	April 11, 2003	April 11, 2003
18	ORDER referring case to mediation. Parties shall select a mediator on or before 8/29/03. Conduct hearing on or before 12/31/03; Lead counsel, Jennifer N. Brown, to coordinate dates. ( Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 07/31/2003)	July 30, 2003	July 30, 2003
19	NOTICE by Rare Hospitality of unavailability of counsel from 10/6/03 to 10/13/03. (eec) (Entered: 07/31/2003)	July 30, 2003	July 30, 2003
20	NOTICE OF SCHEDULING MEDIATION: mediation conference for 11/7/03, mediator: Cary Singletary (eec) (Entered: 09/03/2003)	Aug. 29, 2003	Aug. 29, 2003
21	ORDER appointing Cary R. Singletary as mediator in this action. (Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 09/05/2003)	Sept. 4, 2003	Sept. 4, 2003
22	JOINT MOTION by EEOC, Colleen A. Falkowski, Rare Hospitality (joint) for the deposition of Melissa Hriczko, Gina Leonard, and Danielle Linville to be completed outside the discovery time frame referred to Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun III. (eec) (Entered: 09/24/2003)	Sept. 24, 2003	Sept. 24, 2003
	ENDORSED ORDER granting [22-1] joint motion for the deposition of Melissa Hriczko, Gina Leonard, and Danielle Linville to be completed outside the discovery time frame. ( Signed by Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 09/29/2003)	Sept. 26, 2003	Sept. 26, 2003
23	MEDIATION REPORT. Mediation conference held: 10/30/03. Cary R. Singletary, mediator. Hearing outcome: settled. (eec) (Entered: 11/04/2003)	Nov. 3, 2003	Nov. 3, 2003
24	ORDER OF DISMISSAL this cause is dismissed without prejudice subject to the right of any party to reopen the action within 60 days, or to submit a stipulated form of final order or judgment; clerk is to close the file. ( Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 11/05/2003)	Nov. 5, 2003	Nov. 5, 2003 Clearinghouse
	CASE CLOSED. (eec) (Entered: 11/05/2003)	Nov. 5, 2003	Nov. 5, 2003
25	NOTICE of filing consent decree by EEOC, Rare Hospitality, Colleen A. Falkowski (jlh) (Entered: 12/24/2003)	Dec. 23, 2003	Dec. 23, 2003
25	STIPULATION of consent order of dismissal with prejudice by EEOC, Rare Hospitality, Colleen A. Falkowski (jlh) (Entered: 12/24/2003)	Dec. 23, 2003	Dec. 23, 2003
26	ORDER granting [25-1] dismiss/dismissal stipulation; this cause is dismissed with prejudice. ( Signed by Judge James S. Moody Jr. ) ctc (eec) (Entered: 12/30/2003)	Dec. 30, 2003	Dec. 30, 2003 Clearinghouse
27	CONSENT DECREE by EEOC, Rare Hospitality. (Signed by Judge James S. Moody, Jr.) ctc (eec) (Entered: 12/30/2003)	Dec. 30, 2003	Dec. 30, 2003 Clearinghouse